Plastics: a reflection of the ethical crisis in our relationship with living things
Event held in French
Plastics now play such a central role in our way of life that questioning their ubiquity also means examining our relationship with living beings and the way we inhabit the world.
During this discussion, philosopher Jean-Philippe Pierron and legal scholar Marine Calmet will share their perspectives on what plastics reveal about our relationship with living beings. They will discuss how the scale of this crisis has been made possible by the invisibility of the fate of non-human living beings. Finally, they will discuss the new ontological connections to be forged with a view to ending the use of plastics, and what philosophy and law can offer each other – and us – in this context.
The discussion will be moderated by Henri Bourgeois Costa, Director of Public Affairs at the Tara Ocean Foundation.
Following the discussion, you will have the opportunity to ask our guests any questions you may have.
Marine Calmet is an environmental lawyer. In 2019, she founded ‘Wild Legal’, an organisation dedicated to securing recognition for the rights of nature in France. Her publications include *Becoming Guardians of Nature* (Tana, 2021, European Institute of Ecology Book Prize), *Decolonising the Law* (Wild Project, 2024) and *Justice for the Starfish* (Actes Sud, 2025).
Jean-Philippe Pierron is a professor of the philosophy of life, medicine and care in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Burgundy. He is also Director of the Chair in Values of Care at Jean-Moulin University in Lyon 3, France. As Head of the Master’s programme in Medical and Environmental Humanities in Dijon, his publications include *Caring for Nature and Humans*, Belles Lettres, 2016; *Philosophy of Care: Aesthetics, Ethics and Politics*, Hermann, 2021; *I is We: Enquêtes sur nos interdépendances avec les vivants (I is We: Investigations into our interdependence with living beings), Actes Sud, 2021; Méditer comme une Montagne. Exercices spirituels d'attention à la terre et à ceux qui la peuplent (Meditating like a Mountain: Spiritual exercises in mindfulness of the earth and those who inhabit it), Éditions de l'atelier, 2023; and Pour une insurrection des sens? Chanter, danser et jouer pour prendre soin du monde (Towards an insurrection of the senses? Singing, dancing and playing to care for the world), Actes Sud, 2023.
Henri Bourgeois Costa is a specialist in ecosystem geography. After working for NGOs since 1997, he developed expertise in water, biodiversity and the industrial environment (eco-design, plastics processing, recovery). Since 2019, he has been working at the Tara Ocean Foundation, where he advocates for the circular economy, particularly with regard to plastics and toxic substances, and raises these issues at the international level in the context of UN negotiations.
Organised in partnership with the Tara Ocean Foundation, the series ‘Plastics: a systemic poison’ explores a form of pollution that has become a global issue. Since the 1970s, scientific research has revealed the scale of the problem: from the oceans to the mountains, invisible microplastics are entering our bodies and disrupting ecosystems. The humanities and social sciences complement this picture by analysing the economic and social mechanisms underpinning our dependence on plastics.
As the seventh round of negotiations for an international treaty begins this year, these meetings bring together researchers and civil society to pool knowledge and inform public policy decisions. The aim: to collectively rethink our relationship with plastics and the environment.
Cycle "Plastics: not-so-fantastic poisons"
Event held in French
Tuesday 15 December 2026
6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
- - -
FMSH
54 boulevard Raspail
Paris 6
--
Units of Analysis in Continental Semiotics and Linguistic Anthropology
The Subject and the Human Sciences in the Face of Artificial Intelligence
#Restitutions: Legislating to make amends
