The Democracy of Suffering: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe Philosophy in the Anthropocene

About this book

In The Democracy of Suffering philosopher Todd Dufresne provides a strikingly original exploration of the past present and future of this epoch the Anthropocene demonstrating how the twin crises of reason and capital have dramatically remade the essential conditions for life itself. Images cartoons artworks and quotes pulled from literary and popular culture supplement this engaging and unorthodox look into where we stand amidst the ravages of climate change and capitalist economics. With humour passion and erudition Dufresne diagnoses a frightening new reality and proposes a way forward arguing that our serial experiences of catastrophic climate change herald an intellectual and moral awakening - one that lays the groundwork albeit at the last possible moment for a future beyond individualism hate and greed. That future is unapologetically collective. It begins with a shift in human consciousness with philosophy in its broadest sense and extends to a reengagement with our greatest ideals of economic social and political justice for all. But this collective future Dufresne argues is either now or never. Uncovering how we got into this mess and how if at all we get out of it The Democracy of Suffering is a flicker of light or perhaps a scream in the face of human extinction and the end of civilization.