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The Philosopher Who Believes in Living Things
When we claim that there is, on one side, a natural world and, on the other, a human world, we are simply proposing to say, after the fact, that an arbitrary portion of the actors will be stripped of all action and that another portion, equally arbitrary, will be endowed with souls
Morgan Meis • The Philosopher Who Believes in Living Things
Bennett’s musings have an ethical component: if a nuisance tree, or a dead tree, or a dead rat is my kin, then everything is kin—even a piece of trash. And I’m more likely to value things that are kindred to me, seeing them as notable and worthy in themselves
Morgan Meis • The Philosopher Who Believes in Living Things
“Even if, as I believe, the vitality of matter is real, it will be hard to discern it, and, once discerned, hard to keep focussed on,” Bennett writes. “I have come to see how radical a project it is to think vital materiality.” It’s not just that concentration can be wearisome. Bennett had shown me that picture of the dead rats for a reason: being ... See more
Morgan Meis • The Philosopher Who Believes in Living Things
A force of nature is obviously just the opposite of an inert actor,” Latour wrote
Morgan Meis • The Philosopher Who Believes in Living Things
take perspectives that seem implausible and find the good intuitions embodied in them, and then go with it
Morgan Meis • The Philosopher Who Believes in Living Things
“I was struck by what Stephen Jay Gould called the ‘excruciating complexity and intractability’ of nonhuman bodies,” Bennett writes. “But, in being struck, I realized that the capacity of these bodies was not restricted to a passive ‘intractability’ but also included the ability to make things happen, to produce effects.” Bennett likes to reference... See more
Morgan Meis • The Philosopher Who Believes in Living Things
She wants readers to adopt and embody an ethos that makes room for the vitality of matter. In her view, it’s a useful attitude. “Without modes of enchantment, we might not have the energy or inspiration to enact ecological projects,” she writes. We might find it hard to “contest ugly and unjust modes of commercialization, or to respond generously t
... See moreMorgan Meis • The Philosopher Who Believes in Living Things
Human beings have a lot of difficult work to do if we’re to learn to recognize the inherent worth of all vibrant matter.
Morgan Meis • The Philosopher Who Believes in Living Things
I saw a tree whose every little branch expanded and swelled with sympathy for the sun,” she writes. “I was made distinctly aware of the presence of something kindred to me.” Ailanthus altissima is often considered an invasive species. Bennett’s musings have an ethical component: if a nuisance tree, or a dead tree, or a dead rat is my kin, then ever... See more