Review: MAsterclass: “The Ecological Crisis and the Irrationality of Modern Rationality” (Prof. Dr. oliver schlaudt)

In July, Prof. Oliver Schlaudt joined the IDK as a guest researcher. During his stay, he taught a fascinating masterclass that tackled fundamental issues in the environmental humanities. Titled The Ecological Crisis and the Irrationality of Modern Rationality, the course opened a space for reflecting on the paradoxical denial of our dependence on nature.

Starting with Val Plumwood’s seminal work Feminism and the Mastery of Nature, we explored the Western tradition of dualist thinking, in which one side of a binary (society, human, mind, man) assigns itself an active, dominant, and controlling role, while devaluing the other side (nature, body, woman) by denying dependence on it.

We further examined this dualism in relation to scientific rationality. In Ancient Greek philosophy, nature was conceived as existing separately from intentional human action and artifacts. Aristotle, for example, distinguished nature from machines. This view shifted radically in early modern thought, when Descartes redefined nature through the dualism of mind and matter. Nature could now be understood mechanically—as the interaction of essentially dead objects.

This alienation from nature is also evident in technological rationality. While promising increasing independence from nature, technology often operates by displacing problems in time and space.

Finally, economic rationality reproduces our illusory separation from nature by reducing the world to one-dimensional monetary value. It fosters the belief that nature is a passive, manageable realm, where environmental damage is always commensurable with financial compensation. Yet, as humanity moves toward exceeding multiple planetary boundaries and approaches irreversible tipping points, the irrationality of modern rationality becomes undeniable. It can no longer obscure our dependence on nature. Still, this mode of rationality remains deeply embedded in the structures of modern society. Thus, rethinking environment must also mean redoing environment.

Author of this Text: PhD Student and IDK Member Maximilian Pieper