Dark ecology : for a logic of future coexistence /

Morton (English, Rice Univ.) continues his "object-oriented" philosophical and semantic consideration of ecology, in which he uses the concept of a loop and the ouroboros (a circular symbol of a snake or dragon devouring its tail--a symbol for the infinite) and "darkness" to examine how humans view and think about ecological awareness, the Anthropocene, and ecology. Based on the Wellek Lectures he presented at the University of California, Irvine, Morton asks readers to consider how humans think and feel about the Anthropocene and its name, how humans (individually and as a species) caused the Anthropocene, and how "agrilogistics" have been a major factor in climate change and loss of biodiversity. He continually refers to the interconnections among and between human feelings and how these feelings change as individuals think about and realize the intended and unintended consequences of actions for survival. With touches of humor, bits of information drawn from literature (ancient Latin and Greek), and plenty of philosophy, Morton takes readers on a strongly philosophical and semantic tour of "the darkness and light" of human interrelatedness with the biosphere. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through researchers and faculty. --Susan T Meiers, Western Illinois University

Morton (Hyperobjects), a philosopher and professor of English at Rice University, attempts-with mixed results-to poetically jump-start a searching reevaluation of philosophy, politics, and art in light of the current ecological crisis. The book is strange, and some may find it decidedly uncanny. In and through its looping prose, he argues that there are strata of acclimatizations that must be made in mind, body, and soul for humans to come to "ecognosis": the knowledge that our very conception of nature might be what is destroying it. In a stream-of-consciousness style, Morton weaves together scientific and humanistic perspectives to craft a text that argues that the current ecological crisis is linked to a "logistical `program'?" that has been present in human systems since the Stone Age. "Dark ecology" is the recognition that the changes that must be made involve melancholy, irony, unsettling joy, and ultimately radical transformations in the ways humans conceive of, and live in, the universe. Morton commands readers' attention with his free-form style, but some may find it as repellent as it is compelling. Morton extends his previous work to offer a seismically different vision of the future of ecology and humankind. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.