Being-in-the-Anthropocene: A Place-Based Understanding of Anthropogenic Climate Change

Using Marcuse’s reconciliation of Marx’s historical material critique of capitalist relationships with a phenomenological approach, this paper aims to develop a better understanding of the conceptualization of reason in the era of anthropogenic climate change. Along with reference to Marx and Freud, Marcuse employs Heidegger’s phenomenology in his analysis of the dynamic interrelation between capital and the historical development of civilization, which I argue creates a comprehensive analysis of reason within the context of capitalist technological progress. The intersection of phenomenological analysis and the history of capital creates a moment, through the resurgence of the slumbering potentiality within place, for a radical shift in perspective.