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Matter and Desire: An Erotic Ecology

Nautilus Award Gold Medal Winner, Ecology & Environment

In Matter and Desire, internationally renowned biologist and philosopher Andreas Weber rewrites ecology as a tender practice of forging relationships, of yearning for connections, and of expressing these desires through our bodies. Being alive is an erotic process — constantly transforming the self through contact with others, desiring ever more life.

In clever and surprising ways, Weber recognizes that love — the impulse to establish connections, to intermingle, to weave our existence poetically together with that of other beings — is a foundational principle of reality. The fact that we disregard this principle lies at the core of a global crisis of meaning that plays out in the avalanche of species loss and in our belief that the world is a dead mechanism controlled through economic efficiency.

Although rooted in scientific observation, Matter and Desire becomes a tender philosophy for the Anthropocene, a "poetic materialism," that closes the gap between mind and matter. Ultimately, Weber discovers, in order to save life on Earth — and our own meaningful existence as human beings — we must learn to love.

  • Format
  • paperback
  • Pages
  • 256
  • Language
  • english
  • ISBN
  • 9781603586979
  • Genres
  • nature, philosophy, spirituality, environment, psychology
  • Release date
  • 2017