A consistent immanent critique of the natural sciences is crucial in the context of the “Anthropocene.” Current appraisals are marked by an antinomy: they are denounced as ideology, as an instrument of domination over nature and women, and are also lauded as the bearers of the truth of climate change. This essay explains the antinomy by situating it in the trajectory of capitalist modernity. The immanent trajectory of capitalism has produced a “planetary general intellect,” embedding the knowledge of humanity in a way that can be used to heal nature. This knowledge is based on a qualitatively different science, even though its components originated in capitalist undertakings. The “planetary general intellect” constitutes a “shearing pressure” that highlights the distance between what are and what ought to be the relations between humans and nature. The essay concludes by relating a possible transformation of the current form of production and allocation of resources.
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Daniel Cunha (2025) studied this question.
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