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How Forests Think

Toward an Anthropology Beyond the Human
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( 1,045 ratings, 147 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
How Forests Think by Eduardo Kohn explores the boundaries of anthropology through immersive ethnographic fieldwork with the Runa people of Ecuador's Upper Amazon. Kohn investigates how humans relate to other beings in complex ecosystems, challenging the idea that thought and personhood are exclusively human traits. The book proposes innovative conceptual tools that rethink our place within the living world and invite a broader understanding of interaction between humans and other life forms.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$10800

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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This work is ideal for readers interested in anthropology, indigenous studies, philosophy, and ecology. It suits academics and thoughtful general readers seeking to expand their understanding of human and non-human relationships within complex environments.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

Avoiding reductionistic solutions, and without losing sight of how our lives and those of others are caught up in the moral webs we humans spin, this book skillfully fashions new kinds of conceptual tools from the strange and unexpected properties of the living world itself.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Can forests think? Do dogs dream? In this astonishing book, Eduardo Kohn challenges the very foundations of anthropology, calling into question our central assumptions about what it means to be human — and thus distinct from all other life forms.

Based on four years of fieldwork among the Runa of Ecuador's Upper Amazon, Eduardo Kohn draws on his rich ethnography to explore how Amazonians interact with the many creatures that inhabit one of the world's most complex ecosystems. Whether or not we recognise it, our anthropological tools hinge on those capacities that make us distinctly human. However, when we turn our ethnographic attention to how we relate to other kinds of beings, these tools (which have the effect of divorcing us from the rest of the world) break down.

How Forests Think seizes on this breakdown as an opportunity. Avoiding reductionistic solutions, and without losing sight of how our lives and those of others are caught up in the moral webs we humans spin, this book skilfully fashions new kinds of conceptual tools from the strange and unexpected properties of the living world itself.

In this groundbreaking work, Kohn takes anthropology in a new and exciting direction — one that offers a more capacious way to think about the world we share with other kinds of beings.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Praised for its balanced and thoughtful approach, How Forests Think avoids both anthropocentrism and reductionism. The Times Literary Supplement commends Kohn for maintaining the uniqueness of human experience while recognising the thinking capacities of other beings. Anthropos highlights the book's intellectual rigour, saluting its respectful engagement with indigenous Runa narratives and its successful dialogue with Western philosophy.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780520276116

Publisher: University of California Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 10 August 2013

Country: United States

Imprint: University of California Press

Illustration: 16 b-w photographs, 1 map

Audience: Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 18.0mm

Width: 152.0mm

Height: 229.0mm

Weight: 408g

Pages: 288

About the Author

Eduardo Kohn is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at McGill University.

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