The Ethics of Wicked Problems

Abstract

Wicked problems call for more complex thinking than many of our ethical problem-solving traditions are equipped to deal with. Multi-generational, multi-causal problems with no single solution call on us to think ethics in a new way. This article explores three such facets of what it might mean to live through and with climate change and think ethically about such changes. The reality of our planetary problems and lives might better be addressed using models based upon entanglement, multiple causality, and multiple understandings of time (“rainbow” time).