How forests think

How Forests Think: Toward an Anthropology Beyond the Human

Can forests think? Do dogs dream? This book explores how non-human creatures create the possibility of opening up new worlds, and it embodies anthropology's trend toward ontology and de-anthropocentrism. His project involves a fundamental rethinking of anthropology and the concept of "humanity" so that we can learn to "ecologicalize" our ethics. Cohen's theory is grounded in semiotics and linguistics. In Ávila, Ecuador, he uses an ethnographic approach to delve into the ways of the Luna people, seeking to understand how they connect with various "beings" in the world's densest forests: the power of souls, the power of spirits, and even the methods of communication between trees and monkeys. Thus, his book challenges fundamental anthropological assumptions about what it means to be human and how humans differ from other non-human creatures. This distinction also provides the author with new tools for anthropological research. He seeks to overturn the role of human language in exploring the external world, arguing that thinking is not human, but transcends human nature. This proposition is revolutionary in academia.
How Forests Think won the 2014 Gregory Bateson Award for Best Book in Anthropology. This book, which captured the imagination of Earth's ecology in surprising ways, has spawned not only a symphony of the same name, which premiered at Lincoln Center, but also international museum exhibitions and best-selling works of fiction and nonfiction. The book has been enthusiastically embraced and recognized by leading scholars in anthropology and the environmental humanities.
※ Donna Haraway called it "a powerful and wonderful book that changed my dreams and reshaped my fixed interpretive habits."
Bruno Latour called it a "work of art" and a "refreshing...philosophical anthropology."
※ Luo Anqing believes that this book will "trigger important dialogues within and beyond anthropology."
Marilyn Strathairn called it "the most creative leap of thought ever."
Philippe Descartes said: "A striking feature of How the Forest Thinks is its blend of complex—and extremely beautifully written—subtle theoretical propositions with even more subtle ethnography."
※ Le Monde described it as: "A true reflection on the discipline of anthropology... a masterpiece... admirable and already a classic."
The Times Literary Supplement commented: "Cohen...walks a tightrope with perfect balance: never losing sight of the unique aspects of being human while refusing to force those aspects to separate us from the rest of the rich world of thought."

2023-04-01

上海文艺出版社

New Thoughts, Arts and Culture eons

402

9787532186679