Per Sandin was the opponent at the defence of the most recent doctoral thesis in environmental ethics in the Nordic countries.
The thesis has the title "Can Ordinary Morality Survive the Climate Crisis; A Philosophical Analysis of Moral Demandingness and Climate Change", by Mikko M. Puumala, who successfully defended it at the University of Turku, Finland.
- The thesis argues that ordinary morality has not evolved to handle modern super-problems brought about by industrialization, says Per Sandin, senior lecturer in bioethics and environmental ethics at the Department of Crop Production Ecology.
This "lag" in the development of ordinary morality leads to a motivational gap – we know what should be done but do not do it. Instead, we disengage or delude ourselves with ineffective solutions.
- The key to getting around the problem is to rely on institutional solutions rather than individualistic ones, according to the author of the thesis. This will still mean significant changes for individuals and be very demanding, but given the predicament we are in, not excessively so, says Per Sandin.