Synopses & Reviews
In Return to Nature? Contributions to Eco-Philosophy, Dallmayr demonstrates how, in the modern era, nature has been marginalized, colonized, and abused. Dallmayr argues, however, that it has not always been thus: in premodern and classical times, the idea of nature was synonymous with the comprehensive matrix that encompassed all beings. With the Enlightenment, Western thinkers began to differentiate and disperse this original unity. What is becoming increasingly evident in our time is that this fundamental disjuncture also involves the fragmentation of human relations. Dallmayr speculates that this is why we find ourselves today experiencing a strong desire to change course-to get back to nature. Return to Nature? is part of a sequence of books in which Dallmayr has developed, from different perspectives, a concept of relationism. In Search of the Good Life (2007) and The Promise of Democracy (2010) investigate inter-human and inter-social relations. In Integral Pluralism (2010), inter-cultural relations are expanded to embrace the spiritual. Return to Nature? rounds out the nexus of relationships by exploring how to reassert nature's primacy in modern philosophical discussions. Dallmayr seeks to probe the best of Western thought, informed by other traditions, in a passionate call to reclaim the natural in our lives. Our first reader writes, Fred Dallmayr is one of the leading catholic thinkers in the world, whose work brings together learning, intelligence, sensibility and moral passion. Return to Nature? will be an important contribution to our lists in political theory, philosophy, and environmentalism.
Synopsis
Sustainability has become a compelling topic of domestic and international debate as the world searches for effective solutions to accumulating ecological problems. In Return to Nature? An Ecological Counterhistory, Fred Dallmayr demonstrates how nature has been marginalized, colonized, and abused in the modern era. Although nature was regarded as a matrix that encompassed all beings in premodern and classical thought, modern Western thinkers tend to disregard this original unity, essentially exiling nature from human life. By means of a philosophical counterhistory leading from Spinoza to Dewey and beyond, the book traces successive efforts to correct this tendency. Grounding his writing in a holistic relationism that reconnects humanity with ecology, Dallmayr pleads for the reintroduction of nature into contemporary philosophical discussion and sociopolitical practice.
Return to Nature? unites learning, intelligence, sensibility, and moral passion to offer a multifaceted history of philosophy with regard to our place in the natural world. Dallmayr's visionary writings provide an informed foundation for environmental policy and represent an impassioned call to reclaim nature in our everyday lives.