Dwelling on the earth

A final conversation with the French philosopher Bruno Latour. This seminal work of ecological philosophy condenses Latour's life's work and reflects on his philosophical journey spanning over fifty years.
☆ Introduction: What has changed in our world? Do scientists' words represent authority? What exactly is philosophy? What should we do in the face of ecological threats?
This book records the final interview with the French philosopher Bruno Latour before his death. Through a conversation with journalist Nicolas Zhang, Latour reflects on his 50-year intellectual journey. Throughout, Latour discusses topics ranging from changing the world to the end of modernity, from the "Gaia invasion" to "where to land," and from the meaning of philosophy to his message to future generations. His call to "dwell on the earth" permeates the entire book. This enlightening work of ecological philosophy connects Latour's remarkable philosophical career, guiding us to understand Latour and delve into ecological philosophy, opening up new possibilities for ecological philosophy.
☆ Highlights of this book
1. This book records the last conversation between the great philosopher Latour and his father before his death, and gives a full view of Latour's philosophical career.
This book is the last interview between French philosopher Latour and a reporter before his death. In this important conversation, Latour summarized his life's thoughts and reviewed his long philosophical journey of more than fifty years.
2. An enlightenment work of ecological philosophy, opening up new possibilities for ecological philosophy.
In the book, Latour discusses many important topics in the field of ecological philosophy, such as climate change and the new ecological class. It is inspiring, leading readers to understand ecological philosophy and inspiring readers to further expand the possibilities of ecological philosophy.
3. Restore the wonderful dialogue between great souls and return to the first scene of the collision of ideas.
This book adopts a question-and-answer dialogue format, retaining the language characteristics of oral communication. Through the text, readers can return to the first scene of the interview and experience the sparks of the collision of ideas between the master Latour and the well-known journalist Nicolas Zhang.
4. The book has a broad vision and is easy to understand, so readers who are new to Latour can also read it easily.
The issues that Latour is concerned with cover a wide range of fields, including ecology, sociology, anthropology, science, and philosophy. He has a broad vision. At the same time, his dialogues are humorous and his words are like the art of performance, which are easy to understand and allow readers who are new to Latour to enjoy a relaxed and enjoyable reading experience.
5. Well-known journalists and professional translators wrote articles to clarify the thread of Latour’s thought.
This book includes a preface by the famous journalist Nicola Zhang and a postscript by philosophy professor Lan Jiang. They are introductions carefully written by the interviewer and translator for readers, which can help readers understand Latour's ideological context, introduce Latour's life-long ideological achievements, and lead readers to know this famous contemporary French philosophical master.
6. Included with the book is a mind map with 26 key words linking Latour's ideas, allowing readers to contemplate how to live on the earth. This mind map helps readers extract the essence of the book, guiding them to further their thinking, broadening their thinking, and enjoying the joy of reflection.
Since the 17th century, the world has been considered to consist of two disjointed layers: one is the objective, real world known by science; the other is composed of human subjectivity—our imaginations, feelings, and impressions of the world. The latter is subjective and interesting, but it is not the composition of the world. This "bifurcated world" is what Latour defines as the "modern world."
Today, people are disoriented by ecological problems (climate, viruses, bacteria, etc.), unable to respond quickly to catastrophic situations. Bruno Latour argues that this is because we mistakenly believe we are still in a past world—a physical world without agency, controlled by computation, a scientific world of possession, a world of abundance and comfort provided by production systems. In fact, we are leaving this world of objects understood by science and entering a world of astonishing "living."
Using COVID-19 as an example, Latour points out that while people claimed that the great economic movement would continue, the vast machine of development and progress suddenly ground to a halt within weeks. He reiterates and reinforces the view that "modernization" is a destructive front, and that if we modernize the world, it will become uninhabitable for human beings, as modernization is inconsistent with the existence of humans as ecological subjects.
Latour juxtaposes the recognition that "we no longer live on the same planet (as in the past)" and the research based on this recognition with the scientific historical moment of Galileo in the early seventeenth century, arguing that the first scientific revolution and the transformation of the modern world are equally huge tasks and can equally change the world.
——Recommendation for the Taiwanese version of Habiter la Terre

2024-08-01

广西师范大学出版社

Great Knowledge

172

9787559871831