Plastics, revelations of the ethical crisis of our relationship with the living
When: 15.12.2026 18:30
Where: 48.850289, 2.326965
Organizer: Admin
The plastic crisis invites us to rethink our societal organization, but is this possible without a profound upheaval of our value systems?
Plastics today occupy such a central place in our ways of life that questioning their omnipresence also means questioning our relationship to the living and our way of inhabiting the world.
During this meeting, philosopher Jean-Philippe Pierron and lawyer Marine Calmet will cross their perspectives on what plastics reveal about our relationship to the living. On how the magnitude of this crisis was made possible by the invisibilization of the fate of non‑human beings. They will also discuss the new ontological links to be built in a perspective of ending plastics, what philosophy and law can bring to each other and to us in this perspective.
The discussion will be moderated by Henri Bourgeois Costa, director of public affairs at Fondation Tara Océan.
At the end of the discussion, you will have the opportunity to ask all your questions to our guest.s.
About the speakers
Marine Calmet is a lawyer specializing in environmental law. She founded, in 2019, "Wild Legal", an association whose mission is to have the rights of nature recognized in France. She has published, among others, the books Devenir Gardiens de la Nature (Ed. Tana 2021, Prix du livre de l'Institut européen d'écologie), Décoloniser le droit (Ed. Wild project, 2024) and Justice pour l’étoile de mer (Ed. Actes sud, 2025).
Jean‑Philippe Pierron is a university professor in the philosophy of life, medicine and care, at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Burgundy. He is also Director of the Valeurs du soin chair at Université Jean‑Moulin in Lyon 3, France. Head of the master’s program in medical and environmental humanities in Dijon, he has notably published Prendre soin de la nature et des Humains, Belles Lettres, 2016; Philosophie du soin. Esthétique, éthique et politique, Hermann, 2021; Je est un nous. Enquêtes sur nos interdépendances avec les vivants, Actes Sud, 2021; Méditer comme une Montagne. Exercices spirituels d'attention à la terre et à ceux qui la peuplent, Éditions de l'atelier, 2023 and Pour une insurrections des sens? Chanter, danser et jouer pour prendre soin du monde, Actes Sud, 2023.
Henri Bourgeois Costa is a specialist in ecosystem geography. After a career in NGOs starting in 1997, he developed expertise on water, biodiversity and industrial environment (eco‑design, plastics processing, valorization). Since 2019, he has worked at Fondation Tara Océan where he develops advocacy on the circular economy, notably around plastics and toxins, and brings these issues to the international level within UN negotiations.
About the series "Plastics: a systemic poison"
Organized in partnership with Fondation Tara Océan, the series “Plastics: a systemic poison” explores a pollution that has become global. Since the 1970s, scientific research has revealed the extent of the problem: from oceans to mountains, invisible micro‑plastics penetrate our organisms and disrupt ecosystems. The humanities and social sciences complete this picture by analyzing the economic and social mechanisms of our dependence on plastics.
As the seventh round of negotiations for an international treaty opens this year, these meetings bring together researchers and civil society to cross knowledge and illuminate public decisions. The goal: to collectively rethink our relationship to plastics and the environment.
→ Discover the series
Tags: panel, philosophy, environment, lecture
Source: https://www.paris.fr/evenements/plastiques-des-revelateurs-de-la-crise-ethique-de-notre-relation-au-vivant-113742
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