For love of matter : a contemporary panpsychism / Freya Mathews.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mathews, Freya, 1949-

Series:

SUNY series in environmental philosophy and ethics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Panpsychism.

Physical Description:

ix, 213 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Albany : State University of New York Press, [2003]

Summary:

In For Love of Matter Freya Mathews challenges basic assumptions of Western science, modern philosophy, and environmental philosophy, arguing that the environmental crisis is a symptom of a larger, metaphysical crisis. Western science rests on the premise that the world is an inert backdrop to human presence rather than a communicative presence in its own right, one capable of dialogical congress with us. Mathews explores the transformative effects of a substitution of the latter, panpsychist premise for the former, materialist one. She suggests that to exist in a dialogical modality is to enter an expanded realm of eros in which the self and world are mutually kindled into a larger, more incandescent state of realization. She argues that any adequate philosophical response to the so-called "environmental crisis" cannot be encompassed within the minor discipline of environmental philosophy but must instead address the full range of existential questions.

Contents:

Part 1 Invitation to Panpsychism

Chapter 1 Love and Metaphysics 15

Part 2 Defense of Panpsychism

Chapter 2 An Argument from Realism 25

Chapter 3 The Way of the One and the Many 45

Part 3 A Practice of Encounter

Chapter 4 The Priority of Encounter Over Knowledge 73

Chapter 5 Suffering and the Tree of Life 89

Chapter 6 From Pan to Eros and Psyche: The Testimony of the Tower 113

Epilogue: Moon and Crow: The Double Edge of Eros 153

Appendix 1 A Survey of De-Realization in Modern Philosophy: From Idealism to Poststructuralism 161

Appendix 2 Frans Hoogland on 'Living Country' 179.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 185-208) and index.

ISBN:

0791458075

0791458083

OCLC:

51322945