What remains of us is above all: waste. Waste is the legacy that we - usually unconsciously and unintentionally - leave behind for posterity, and what we have been surrounded by for a long time now. So it’s high time we took waste seriously, not only as an ecological problem, but also as a cultural phenomenon and an object of philosophical reflection.
About the person
Oliver Schlaudt, born in 1978, trained as a physicist and now works as a professor of philosophy and political economy at the Hochschule für Gesellschaftsgestaltung (HfGG - English: Academy for Social Forming) in Koblenz (Germany). His latest books deal with technology, money and waste, including “Zugemüllt. A garbage-philosophical journey through Germany” (2024) [Translator’s note: “Zugemüllt” can be rendered in English as “Up to our Ears in Garbage”].