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 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.
Teun rated Finding the Mother Tree: 4 stars
Teun rated The embodied mind: 5 stars
Francisco J. Varela: The embodied mind (2016, The MIT Press)
The embodied mind by Francisco J. Varela
This classic book, first published in 1991, was one of the first to propose the "embodied cognition" approach in cognitive …
Teun rated The overstory: 5 stars
The overstory by Richard Powers
A novel of activism and natural-world power presents interlocking fables about nine remarkable strangers who are summoned in different ways …
Teun rated Against Nature: 3 stars
Against Nature by Lorraine Daston
Why have human beings, in many different cultures and epochs, looked to nature as a source of norms for human …
Teun rated Why Look At Animals: 5 stars
Teun rated Eclipse of reason: 4 stars
Max Horkheimer: Eclipse of reason (2013, Bloomsbury)
Eclipse of reason by Max Horkheimer (Bloomsbury revelations)
Horkheimer surveys and demonstrates the gradual ascendancy of Reason in Western philosophy, its eventual total application to all spheres of …
Teun rated We have never been modern: 4 stars
Teun rated The Enlightenment: 4 stars
The Enlightenment by Robertson, John (Very short introductions -- 443)
A foundational moment in the history of modern European thought, the Enlightenment continues to be a reference point for philosophers, …
Teun rated Hints voor een diagnose, naar aanleiding van Kant: 5 stars
Hints voor een diagnose, naar aanleiding van Kant by O. D. Duintjer (Ambo-wijsgerig)
Teun rated Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar . . .: 3 stars
Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar . . . by Thomas Cathcart, Daniel Klein
Teaches the principles and concepts of philosophy through one-liner jokes, vaudeville humor, cartoons, and limericks, in an irreverent introduction to …
Teun rated A short history of modern philosophy: 4 stars
A short history of modern philosophy by Roger Scruton
A Short History of Modern Philosophy is a lucid, challenging and up-to-date survey of the philosophers and philosophies from the …
Teun rated The History of Cinema: 4 stars
The History of Cinema by Geoffrey Nowell-Smith
119 pages : 18 cm