From March 14 to 15, 2024, the international conference “Anthropocene Calling: Human, Philosophy, Technology and Arts in the Age of Anthropocene” was held at the University of Rome Tor Vergata in Italy. Addressing the issues of the “Anthropocene”—an era in which humanity’s irreversible impact on the Earth can no longer be ignored—requires interdisciplinary research that transcends traditional academic boundaries. As its title suggests, this symposium was organized as a forum to examine the vast issues of the Anthropocene from multiple perspectives, including nature, technology, language and culture, and the arts. Researchers from Group 5 of the AAA and the University of Rome Tor Vergata participated in the event, highlighting the importance of collaborative research between Japan and Italy on the theme of the Anthropocene.
Before each session, a welcome address was given by Professor Lorenzo Perilli, Chair of the Department of Humanities at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, followed by opening remarks from the principal investigators of Italy and Japan, Professor Giuseppe PATELLA and Professor Yasuko NAKAMURA. In their introductory speeches, the problem awareness and purpose of the conference were explained, and they shared the significance and goals of academic engagement with the concept of the “Anthropocene.”
Rather than following each session one by one, the author has chosen to reorganize and report on the symposium by grouping its content around three main thematic points for convenience. It should be noted in advance that, due to the exceptionally wide range of topics covered in the presentations and the subsequent discussions during the Q&A sessions, many details are inevitably omitted from the summary below. A list of symposium participants is provided at the end of this report (names of speakers are given without honorifics).
🌟１：a fundamental reflection on humanity and a deepening of philosophical understanding
The term “Anthropocene” is derived from the prefix anthropo-meaning “human”. In other words, contained within the notion of the Anthropocene is the recognition that human beings—insignificant when seen against the vast history of the Earth—have come to exert an undeniable influence at a geological scale. In Session 1, Giuseppe PATELLA’s presentation, drawing on M. HEIDEGGER’s concept of the “age of the world picture,” revisited the problem of the modern way of thinking that decisively separates subject and object, and suggested the potential of the Anthropocene as a means of overcoming anthropocentrism, using a wide range of contemporary philosophical trends as points of reference. The issue of universalism implied by the Anthropocene, as highlighted here, was taken up for deeper examination in Session 3 by Vincenzo CUOMO. CUOMO classified experimental practices related to the Anthropocene into two types: the route of political activists and the symbiotic spectral (Symbiotec-spectral) route, and focused on the concept of “parasite” inspired by the philosophy of Michel SERRES. These presentations, inspired by contemporary trends speculatively discussing the Anthropocene, formed the foundation of this interdisciplinary symposium.
On the other hand, the re-examination of the concept of “human” was deepened through research clarifying our psychological, cognitive, and environmental conditions. The presentations by Yasuko NAKAMURA and Hideki OHIRA in Session 1, and by Francesco CAMPAGNOLA in Session 2, can be considered to have shared this awareness of the issues.
NAKAMURA’s presentation analyzed human-specific emotional expressions, particularly in literature, using machine learning-based data analysis. It visualized the distribution of emotions in literary expressions and their translations through a numerical model. An analytical method that releases emotions from the mystery once reserved for humans and interprets them as sequences of data points indicates one possible form of the “humanities” of the next era — a study about the human.
Drawing on abundant evidence, OHIRA persuasively demonstrated the thesis that predictive processes are involved at the core of human psychological functions. Cases such as optical illusions that use blind spots in cognitive functions demonstrate how human consciousness is structured by already acquired knowledge and habits.
People build their identities in relation to the environment around them. In his presentation, Campagnola began by discussing the “desert mentality” in the Western cultural sphere, mentioning figures like Saint Jerome and Saint Anthony, and then swiftly turned his attention to Japanese literary criticism, covering Tetsuro WATSUJI’s theory of climate and Kiyoteru HANADA’s writings on the desert. The idea that human consciousness and ways of seeing emerge and develop not on their own, but through interactions with both external and internal factors — the term “internal” here being not the familiar, self-tamed aspects, but an internality that appears as other, like the unconscious — echoed like a continuous background theme throughout the symposium, even though it did not directly resonate with the theme of the Anthropocene.
🌟２：a rethinking of the relationship between humans and highly developed technology
Since the Anthropocene involves the violence of technologies that humans have historically enlarged, it is impossible to avoid the examination of technology theories from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Among the presenters, it was Roberto TERROSI in Session 5 who developed the most ambitious discourse on technological culture. He boldly proposed adopting the term not “Anthropocene” but “Technocene.” What has defined human history is not so much human cultural activities themselves, but rather the movement of “technology” that optimizes and controls all flows of energy. Tetsuya YAMAMOTO’s presentation, which reported on the recent possibilities of using virtual reality from the perspective of a clinical counselor, indicates that contemporary society is moving closer to the “Technocene” concept proposed by TERROSI. The attempt to apply virtual avatars – created by scanning real human bodies – to psychological counseling may suggest that the boundary between machines and living organisms has already begun to dissolve has already begun to dissolve.
Even so, if such technological advancements are left unchecked, it is obvious that various forms of social disorder will arise everywhere. The emotional rejection that comes instinctively toward cutting-edge technology invites criticism as a reactionary response that hinders the creation of new culture. Yet, uncritical technological faith also carries a certain risk. In Session 4, Mario VERDICCHIO discussed how the “sociotechnical blindness” which inevitably accompanies emerging technologies, can be applied to the Anthropocene, pointing out the social and practical traps hidden within slogans that sensationally announce the dawn of a new era. In Session 5, NINOMIYA also examined the runaway development of technology, which gradually takes away any room for reflection in human culture, drawing on the ideas of the German art historian Aby Warburg. Warburg criticized technological civilization by reexamining Native American myths through an ethnographic and visual lens. Technology, however, has destroyed the “space for thought” that allowed people to understand the meanings in that world. The challenge of easing the tension between technology and humans, and of understanding their relationship, is an urgent academic issue in the Anthropocene era.
🌟３：exploring a new cosmology via art
The concept of the Anthropocene is based on a global awareness of environmental destruction and pollution. Since the 1950s, as mass production and consumption, nuclear fuel development, and ecosystem destruction progressed, experts and activists have repeatedly emphasized the need for a minimum ethical framework to avoid the worst-case scenarios that could threaten the planet’s survival. Artists, highly sensitive to the currents of their time, have identified ecological and environmental issues as subjects for their work, approaching them differently from scientists and politicians. Ayako IKENO presented on the themes of “breathing” and “air” in 20th-century art, focusing in particular on two artists active in the 1960s: Giuseppe PENONE in Italy and Seiko MIKAMI in Japan. She explored, through numerous works, what meanings these artists found in “air.” Similarly, Hironari TAKWDA’s presentation interpreted the photo series of Japanese photographer Naoya HATAKEYAMA as landscapes of the Anthropocene, revealing how artists perceive and represent the environment from unusual perspectives. The crystallized images in HATAKEYAMA’s works depict, in a strikingly complex way, the intersections and conflicts between nature and culture.
When it comes to art showing the natural world around us, the genre of landscape painting has long played an important role in Western culture. Paolo D’ANGELO’s presentation, originating from activist protests against John Constable’s famous painting The Hay Wain, described critiques of the negative meanings of the word “landscape,” while explaining, in the Italian context, how it has been contrasted with the word “environment.” However, the situation is not as simple as just replacing “landscape,” which reflects civilization’s sense of beauty, with “environment,” which better reflects actual nature. Encouraged by the pioneering work of 20th-century landscape theorist Rosario Assunto, D’ANGELO suggested a way to move beyond the binary opposition between landscape and environment.
The next presentation by Atsushi OKADA went further back in time, looking into the beginnings of ecological thought among writers from the 19th century to the early 20th century. The works and practices of Alexander von HUMBOLDT, Ernst HAECKEL, and Élise RECLUS, each in their own way, show early signs of ecological ideas even though they were different. Despite colonialism, HUMBOLT was attracted to exotic landscape paintings; HAECKEL created visually striking illustrations of organisms based on his own ideas about nature; and RECLUS designed large diorama-like displays that remind us of the “Blue Marble” image of Earth taken by Apollo 17 in 1972. The images of the planet Earth that these 19th-century thinkers had in mind are not only interesting from a cultural history perspective but also provide useful hints for thinking about new ways to understand the cosmos today.
At this international conference, which was organized primarily by researchers from AAA Group 5, there was a lot of discussion about the impact of the “Anthropocene” on the humanities. Furthermore, the conference provided an opportunity to examine cultural history—including art and technology—from the perspective of the Anthropocene. Overall, one of the major outcomes was the confirmation that the key term “Anthropocene” functions as a connecting point across diverse research fields and encourages new avenues of intellectual inquiry.
Apart from the international symposium, we were also able to meet Roberto ESPOSITO during the Italian conference. The concept of biopolitics, a major topic of Group 5, has drawn inspiration from his philosophical study. He guided us through the historic building of the Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici in Naples, where he once served as director, and afterwards we enjoyed a relaxed conversation at his home for about an hour, followed by lunch at a nearby restaurant. In his every gesture, we could feel his kind personality and warm, welcoming spirit. He is truly a thinker of communitas, the idea of living together.
As for the future outlook, it will be important to share the insights into the Anthropocene gained from this symposium with the other research groups of the AAA project. While much of the discussion at this international conference focused on the Anthropocene from a humanities perspective due to participants’ backgrounds, integrating perspectives from the natural and social sciences can highlight the strengths of an interdisciplinary research project. The symposium provided a valuable starting point for giving scholarly depth to the Anthropocene, which encompasses multiple layers—scientific concepts, guiding slogans for social practices, and the driving force behind creative artistic activities—and for expanding discussion more broadly. Looking ahead, the research project plans to publish a collection of essays based on this conference, which is expected to foster further development of the research.
🌟List of symposium participants
– Yasuko NAKAMURA, Professor, Nagoya University
– Giuseppe PATELLA, Associate professor, University of Rome Tor Vergata
– Hideki OHIRA, Professor, Nagoya University
– Francesco CAMPAGNOLA, Principal Investigator, University of Lisbon
– Hironari TAKEDA, Associate professor, Kyoto University
– Paolo D’ANGELO, Professor, University of Rome Tre,
– Atsushi OKADA, Professor, Kyoto Seika University,
– Vincenzo CUOMO, Director, Review “Kaiak”
– Mario VERDICCHIO, Researcher, University of Bergamo
– Tetsuya YAMAMOTO, Associate professor, Tokushima University
– Roberto TERROSI, Researcher, University of Rome Tor Vergata
– Ayako IKENO, Associate professor, Aoyama Gakuin University
– Nozomu NINOMIYA, PhD candidate, Kyoto University
(Authorship: Nozomu NINOMIYA, Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University)