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Facing gaia : eight lectures on the new climatic regime

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublication details: Cambridge : Polity Press, ©2017Description: vii, 327 p. : ill. ; 24 cmISBN:
  • 9780745684345
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 570.1 LAT-F
Contents:
1. On the instability of the (notion of) nature
2. How not to (de- )animate nature
3. Gaia, a (finally secular) figure for nature
4. The Anthropocene and the destruction of (the image of) the globe
5. How to convene the various peoples (of nature)?
6. How (not) to put an end to the end of times?
7. The states (of nature) between war and peace
8. How to govern struggling (natural) territories?
Summary: "The emergence of modern sciences in the seventeenth century profoundly renewed our understanding of Nature. For the last three centuries new ideas of Nature have been continuously developed by theology, politics, economics, and science, especially the sciences of the material world. The situation is even more unstable today, now that we have entered an ecological mutation of unprecedented scale. Some call it the Anthropocene, but it is best described as a new climatic regime. And a new regime it certainly is, since the many unexpected connections between human activity and the natural world oblige every one of us to reopen the earlier notions of Nature and redistribute what had been packed inside. So the question now arises: what will replace the old ways of looking at Nature? This book explores a potential candidate proposed by James Lovelock when he chose the name "Gaia" for the fragile, complex system through which living phenomena modify the Earth. The fact that he was immediately misunderstood proves simply that his readers have tried to fit this new notion into an older frame, transforming Gaia into a single organism, a kind of giant thermostat, some sort of New Age goddess, or even divine Providence. In this series of lectures on "natural religion", Bruno Latour argues that the complex and ambiguous figure of Gaia offers, on the contrary, an ideal way to disentangle the ethical, political, theological, and scientific aspects of the now obsolete notion of Nature. He lays the groundwork for a future collaboration among scientists, theologians, activists, and artists as they, and we, begin to adjust to the new climatic regime"--
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Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Status Date due Barcode Item holds Course reserves
Books Books IIITD Reference Biology REF 570.1 LAT-F (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Not for loan 013210

Philosophy of Technology UG/PG (REST) WNT25

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Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. On the instability of the (notion of) nature

2. How not to (de- )animate nature

3. Gaia, a (finally secular) figure for nature

4. The Anthropocene and the destruction of (the image of) the globe

5. How to convene the various peoples (of nature)?

6. How (not) to put an end to the end of times?

7. The states (of nature) between war and peace

8. How to govern struggling (natural) territories?

"The emergence of modern sciences in the seventeenth century profoundly renewed our understanding of Nature. For the last three centuries new ideas of Nature have been continuously developed by theology, politics, economics, and science, especially the sciences of the material world. The situation is even more unstable today, now that we have entered an ecological mutation of unprecedented scale. Some call it the Anthropocene, but it is best described as a new climatic regime. And a new regime it certainly is, since the many unexpected connections between human activity and the natural world oblige every one of us to reopen the earlier notions of Nature and redistribute what had been packed inside. So the question now arises: what will replace the old ways of looking at Nature? This book explores a potential candidate proposed by James Lovelock when he chose the name "Gaia" for the fragile, complex system through which living phenomena modify the Earth. The fact that he was immediately misunderstood proves simply that his readers have tried to fit this new notion into an older frame, transforming Gaia into a single organism, a kind of giant thermostat, some sort of New Age goddess, or even divine Providence. In this series of lectures on "natural religion", Bruno Latour argues that the complex and ambiguous figure of Gaia offers, on the contrary, an ideal way to disentangle the ethical, political, theological, and scientific aspects of the now obsolete notion of Nature. He lays the groundwork for a future collaboration among scientists, theologians, activists, and artists as they, and we, begin to adjust to the new climatic regime"--

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