The Materialism of Climate Change: Exploring Ancient Philosophy’s Impact on Climate Change

Climate change is one of the biggest health crises humanity faces, according to the World Health Organization. It is all-consuming, impacting almost every aspect of our daily lives. However, we very rarely look beyond greenhouse gas burning to the root cause of how climate change became what we know it as today: philosophy. Similar to how if you continuously click the first link on any Wikipedia page, 97 percent of the time (as of 2016), you will end up on the “Philosophy” page, the root cause of climate change can be traced back to ancient greek philosophy.

Climate change is one of the biggest health crises humanity faces, according to the World Health Organization.

In ancient times, people commonly believed that everything was sacred. Everything in the world, plants, people, rivers, had a perceived life force; there was no divide between the spiritual and the material.  However, once the philosophy “atomism” was introduced, everything began to change. 

The philosopher Leucippus proposed the idea that matter is made up of atoms. Very little of his written work remains, however, his idea of “atoms” was carried on and launched into widespread recognition by his student, Democritus. The theory he popularized was called “atomism,” based on the Greek word for indivisible, “atomos.”  Atomism declared that everything in the world was made up of very small, invisible, indestructible particles known as “atoms.” Every type of object has its own atoms, varying by their size, shape, speed, and rotation, and — because the atoms are indestructible — their atoms would either temporarily hook together to form objects or bounce off each other into an infinite void. Centuries later, scientists such as Rutherford and Bohr would go on to make their own models of atoms, supporting the theory. People then adopted the term “atom” to refer to the basic unit of matter. However, this had one key consequence: it created the idea that the world is purely matter.

Atomism declared that everything in the world was made up of very small, invisible, indestructible particles known as ‘atoms.’

Atomism introduced the idea that there was a divide. It rejected the idea of spirituality or a divine plan. With atomism in place, things were temporal and there were no gods or spirits to anger by destroying the land.

As time went on, this idea became embedded into Western thought. With the new ideology in place and at the root of morality, humanity began exploiting the planet. As the idea proved more and more true as scientists continued to improve their theories on atoms, humans became more focused on other material things. We made mass advancements, improving our ideas in the Renaissance and our technology in the Industrial Revolution, with little regard for possible consequences.

The consequences of materialism are becoming more intrusive. Climate change is already known to have massive effects on the weather: increasing flood risks, intensifying drought, exasperating heat waves. Recent research has revealed that these changes are contributing to a decline in human health. The heat is becoming more deadly, increasing extreme heat mortality rates, causing pregnancy complications, and impacting our soil. Being pregnant during heat waves increases the likelihood of going into preterm labor and having a stillbirth. Drier soil can cause malnutrition and crops withering. Changing temperatures and humidity levels can create better habitats for disease-carrying insects, such as mosquitos and ticks.

The heat is becoming more deadly, increasing extreme heat mortality rates, causing pregnancy complications, and impacting our soil

In a world focused on fast fashion and buying the newest piece of technology, the effects of materialism appear to be set in stone. However, while philosophy seeks to answer questions about the world we live in, it also seeks to answer questions about the lives we lead. Every philosopher, ancient to modern, has had at least one of two questions at the root of every theory: “What is the world?” and “What is a good person?” Atomism is a fast answer to the question of the world, but it has overshadowed the question of a good person. Perhaps a solution to climate change begins with that. After all, small individual beliefs can quickly extend to societal or cultural beliefs, changing the way humans function as a collective.

Radioactivity: Introduction and History (2007). DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-444-52715-8.50031-1