A rich and inspiring look at ways in which the more-than-human world exists, as well as a sustained complaint about our stubborn refusal to see that existence. The examples here are incredibly numerous and varied, and Bridle does a great job at stitching them together into a coherent narrative. Their look at technology in the light of ecology has somewhat nuanced my techno-cynicism (although it has added ammunition too), which I think is necessary as we are not going to live without omnipresent digital technology any time soon.
As a soon-to-be philosophy graduate, Ways of Being provided me with a lot of food for thought, but it also left me wanting … a stronger argument. What I mean is that Ways of Being is philosophical in spirit but not in discipline. There's so many links to be laid between Bridle's argument and philosophical currents of thought, but these are barely …
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Teun rated Kinderen van Apate: 3 stars
Siddharta by Hermann Hesse
Hermann Hesse wrote Siddhartha after he traveled to India in the 1910s. It tells the story of a young boy …
Teun rated Theorie van de kraal: 5 stars
Teun rated De draad van Penelope: 5 stars
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4 stars
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4 stars
Teun rated The Left Hand of Darkness: 4 stars
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
"One of my favorite novels is The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K Le Guin. For more than 40 …
Teun rated The Word For World Is Forest: 5 stars
Ursula K. Le Guin: The Word For World Is Forest (1981, Berkley)
The Word For World Is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin
Centuries in the future, Terrans have established a logging colony & military base named “New Tahiti” on a tree-covered planet …
Teun rated Staying with the Trouble: 5 stars
Teun rated Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction: 5 stars
Teun rated Ethical Know-How: 4 stars
Ethical Know-How by Francisco Varela
This book addresses two of the most challenging problems facing contemporary neurobiology and cognitive science: first, understanding how we unconsciously …
Teun rated Metaphysical Animals: 4 stars
Teun reviewed Ways of Being by James Bridle
Review of 'Ways of Being' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
A rich and inspiring look at ways in which the more-than-human world exists, as well as a sustained complaint about our stubborn refusal to see that existence. The examples here are incredibly numerous and varied, and Bridle does a great job at stitching them together into a coherent narrative. Their look at technology in the light of ecology has somewhat nuanced my techno-cynicism (although it has added ammunition too), which I think is necessary as we are not going to live without omnipresent digital technology any time soon.
As a soon-to-be philosophy graduate, Ways of Being provided me with a lot of food for thought, but it also left me wanting … a stronger argument. What I mean is that Ways of Being is philosophical in spirit but not in discipline. There's so many links to be laid between Bridle's argument and philosophical currents of thought, but these are barely explored in the book.
As such, I want to give three philosophical recommendations for those interested in the themes of Ways of Being:
As a soon-to-be philosophy graduate, Ways of Being provided me with a lot of food for thought, but it also left me wanting … a stronger argument. What I mean is that Ways of Being is philosophical in spirit but not in discipline. There's so many links to be laid between Bridle's argument and philosophical currents of thought, but these are barely explored in the book.
As such, I want to give three philosophical recommendations for those interested in the themes of Ways of Being:
- Ecofeminism: Val Plumwood. I have to admit that I haven't yet read any of her books front-to-back, but what I've read from Feminism and the Mastery of Nature has been great. Her article “Nature, Self, and Gender” is an excellent primer.
- Enactivism: The Embodied Mind by Varela, Thompson and Rosch. Proposes a different look at the mind and cognition that fits very snugly with Bridle's views, and does so in a highly engaging way.
- Whatever the heck Bruno Latour is up to. I have no idea how to classify his work, but it's fascinating. In Facing Gaia (a collection of essays on ecology) he takes inspiration from Lynn Margulis and James Lovelock and puts forth a perspective on the ecological crisis that is as mind-altering as it is hard to internalize.
