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The Life of Plants
A Metaphysics of Mixture
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The Life of Plants
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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?
Ideal for readers interested in philosophy, ecology, and the natural sciences, this book suits those looking to deepen their understanding of life’s interconnectedness and humanity’s ecological role.
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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
We barely talk about them and seldom know their names. Philosophy has always overlooked them; even biology considers them as mere decoration on the tree of life. And yet plants give life to the Earth: they produce the atmosphere that surrounds us, they are the origin of the oxygen that animates us. Plants embody the most direct, elementary connection that life can establish with the world.
In this highly original book, Emanuele Coccia argues that, as the very creator of atmosphere, plants occupy the fundamental position from which we should analyse all elements of life. From this standpoint, we can no longer perceive the world as a simple collection of objects or as a universal space containing all things, but as the site of a veritable metaphysical mixture. Since our atmosphere is rendered possible through plants alone, life only perpetuates itself through the very circle of consumption undertaken by plants. In other words, life exists only insofar as it consumes other life, removing any moral or ethical considerations from the equation.
In contrast to trends of thought that discuss nature and the cosmos in general terms, Coccia’s account in The Life of Plants brings the infinitely small together with the infinitely big, offering a radical redefinition of the place of humanity within the realm of life.
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 by Bruno Latour for its wit and literary merit, The Life of Plants invites readers to reconsider philosophy from the ground up, reconnecting with the vegetal world and the sun as life’s true foundation. The Nation highlights the book’s timely reflection on interdependence as crucial for understanding human existence in the Anthropocene era.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781509531523
Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 19 October 2018
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Polity Press
Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 15.0mm
Width: 142.0mm
Height: 218.0mm
Weight: 340g
Pages: 176
About the Author
Emanuele Coccia is Associate Professor at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Paris.
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