Colossal Vacuums: Kierkegaard and the Rise of the Public in the Anthropocene

Abstract In this paper, I argue that the debate in the environmental humanities about the reconceptualization of the human being as one (humanity as a geologic agent) vs. many (human individuals) in light of the Anthropocene, resembles the very structure of Kierkegaard’s notion of the public as a compound object (one entity) composed of individuals (several entities). Further, I argue that the public provides not only a model for understanding the ontological makeup of the Anthropos but also serves as an early version of it. Hence, the public plays a role in the very emergence of the Anthropocene itself.