Act: Resources

Matter and Desire

September 7, 2017

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.

Andreas Weber

Dr. Andreas Weber is a Berlin based book and magazine writer, translator, and independent scholar. He has degrees in Marine Biology and Cultural Studies. Andreas' work focuses on a re-evaluation of our understanding of the living. He proposes to understand organsims as subjects and hence the biosphere as a meaning-creating and poetic reality. He has put forth his ideas in several books and has contributed to major German newspapapers and magazines. He teaches at Leuphana University Lüneburg and at Berlin University of the Fine Arts. His latest book, The Biology of Wonder. Aliveness, Feeling, and the Metamorphosis of Science (New Society Publishers, Gabriola Island, B.C) appears in early 2016.

Tags: building resilient societies, connection to nature, systems thinking

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