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The Five Senses

A Philosophy of Mingled Bodies
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( 149 ratings, 8 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
In The Five Senses, Professor Michel Serres explores the profound philosophical and psychological implications of our sensory experiences. The book invites readers to rethink the traditional hierarchy of senses, celebrating the richness and interconnectedness of human perception. Serres examines how our senses shape our understanding of the world, offering a vibrant and poetic meditation on human experience.
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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?

You might enjoy this book if you're fascinated by the complex ways human perception shapes our understanding of the world. It offers profound philosophical insights into how our senses interact and influence our experiences and identity. This book is ideal for readers interested in exploring the connections between sensory perception and philosophical thought.

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Translation of: Les cinq sens / Michel Serres. paris: Grasset, c1985.

One of Serres's best known works in which he explores the senses in the history and culture of science.

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

Marginalised by the scientific age, the lessons of the senses have been overtaken by the dominance of language and the information revolution. With The Five Senses, Serres traces a topology of human perception. Writing against the Cartesian tradition and in praise of empiricism, he demonstrates repeatedly, and lyrically, the sterility of systems of knowledge divorced from bodily experience.

The fragile empirical world, long resistant to our attempts to contain and catalogue it, is disappearing beneath the relentless accumulations of late capitalist society and information technology. Data has replaced sensory pleasure; we are less interested in the taste of a fine wine than in the description on the bottle's label. What are we, and what do we really know, when we have forgotten that our senses can describe a taste more accurately than language ever could?

The book won the inaugural Prix MΓ©dicis Essai in 1985. The Revelations edition includes an introduction by Steven Connor.

Series: Bloomsbury Revelations

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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?

The Five Senses by Professor Michel Serres receives praise for its vibrant and poetic exploration of sensory experience. Reviewers commend Margaret Sankey and Peter Cowley for their impressive translation, skillfully capturing Serres' complex style and philosophical richness. The book is described as an intellectually stimulating work where each page comes alive with vivid descriptions and evocative insights into the nature of sensing and perception.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781474299640

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 20 October 2016

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic

Audience: Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 26.0mm

Width: 136.0mm

Height: 214.0mm

Weight: 340g

Pages: 368

About the Author

Michel Serres (1930-2019) was Professor of the History of Science at Stanford University, USA, and a member of the AcadΓ©mie FranΓ§aise. He is the author of Eyes (2015), Statues and Times of Crisis (2014) all published by Bloomsbury.

Also by Professor Michel Serres

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    Despite being one of France’s most enduring and popular philosophers, Branches is the first English translation of what has been identified as Michel Serres’ key text on humanism. In attempting to reconcile humanity and nature, Serres examines how human history β€˜branches’ off from its origin story. Using the metaphor of a branch springing from the stem and arguing that the...
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  • Hominescence
    According to Michel Serres, a process of 'hominescence' has taken place throughout human history. Hominescence can be described as a type of adolescence; humanity in a state of growing, a state of constant change, on the threshold of something unpredictable. We are destined never to be the same again, but what does the future hold? In this innovative and passionately...
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  • Humanistic Narratives
    Following the narratives explored in Hominescence, Incandescent and The Bough, Michel Serres continues and concludes his 'grand story' of humanity and humanism. Humanistic Narratives weaves together and condenses the overriding philosophical narratives of the previous books and reflects upon Serres' own humanist theoretical system. With characteristic breadth and imagination, in telling the story of humanity, Serres also tells us why...
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  • The Incandescent
    The first translation of the volumes in Michel Serres’ classic Humanism tetralogy, this ambitious philosophical narrative explores what it means to be human. With his characteristic breadth of references, including art, poetry, science, philosophy, and literature, Serres paints a new picture of what it might mean to live meaningfully in contemporary society. He tells the story of humankind, from the...
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    Rome, Michel Serres' first book in his 'foundations trilogy', is all about beginnings. It explores the commencement of Rome itself, as well as the origins of society, knowledge, and culture. Rome is an examination of the very foundations upon which contemporary society has been built. With characteristic breadth and lyricism, Serres leads the reader on a journey from a meditation...
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