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Repent to the Primitive
Rewilding is the process of restoring nature, including human nature, to its unmanaged, wild state. Rewilding is happening everywhere. In conservation, vast tracts of land have been set aside and guarded from artificial management. In politics, many people, now and throughout history, have resisted the influence of civilization while surviving as individuals and small groups in nature. They have fought wars, escaped slavery, destroyed factories, and lobbied governments in the process.
John Jacobi presents a philosophical foundation for rewilding. Human nature, he argues, must be tamed for humans to live in civilization. But the civilizing process does not work perfectly. Those who fall through the cracks — wild wills — tend to dislike civilized life, its manners and rules, preferring instead the company of flora, fauna, and a small band of friends. This perspective can be philosophically justified, argues Jacobi, and, as the ecological crisis worsens, it will only continue attracting adherents.
John Jacobi presents a philosophical foundation for rewilding. Human nature, he argues, must be tamed for humans to live in civilization. But the civilizing process does not work perfectly. Those who fall through the cracks — wild wills — tend to dislike civilized life, its manners and rules, preferring instead the company of flora, fauna, and a small band of friends. This perspective can be philosophically justified, argues Jacobi, and, as the ecological crisis worsens, it will only continue attracting adherents.
106 pages, Paperback
Published November 1, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 4, 2019
This is a highly incisive and accessible read. Definitely a logical next step for those who have read Industrial Society and Its Future or anyone interested in anti-industrial philosophy in general. I found section III particularly engaging, as it addresses some common arguments leveled against the primitivist movement.
Particularly valuable is the careful distinction the author makes between nature and artifice. I’ve come across some anti-primitivist arguments that run something like this: “Humans and beavers both build dams; therefore, calling beaver dams natural and human dams artificial is a fallacy.” While this is clearly sophistry, I still think it’s a distinction that primitivist thinkers have needed to more carefully outline when crafting their arguments, and I think that’s finally been done satisfactorily with Repent to the Primitive.
Particularly valuable is the careful distinction the author makes between nature and artifice. I’ve come across some anti-primitivist arguments that run something like this: “Humans and beavers both build dams; therefore, calling beaver dams natural and human dams artificial is a fallacy.” While this is clearly sophistry, I still think it’s a distinction that primitivist thinkers have needed to more carefully outline when crafting their arguments, and I think that’s finally been done satisfactorily with Repent to the Primitive.
August 14, 2019
Of the potential audience for his short book, Jacobi writes:
I belong to the second group, having had no prior experience or education in primitivism, but having felt that inexpressible unease dog my steps more with each passing year.
As a survey of a field with which I am wholly unfamiliar, I can't speak to its comprehensiveness, nor its "accuracy", if such a word can even be meaningfully applied to a philosophical document. But I can speak to the qualities of clarity, accessibility, and sincerity—all of which "Repent to the Primitive" has in spades. Jacobi takes care to define overlapping and discrete terms that will be central to his thesis—"wilderness" and "wildness", "civility" and "civilization", "nature", "artifice", "humanism", "ecocentricism" and so on. He then uses these terms to advance arguments against weaker/mitigated versions of primitivist philosophies, and argue for the centrality of wilderness to humanity's longevity and ability to flourish, in social, metaphysical, and existential senses.
I wish more had been written on what primitivism means for the subaltern. For example, as a gal, I'm at a physical disadvantage and am vulnerable to enslavement by virtue of the body I'm saddled with. Take all men's technologies away and the white master ("master" because of historical accidents of technical advancement) can no longer subjugate the black or brown subaltern; but both may subjugate the women in their social groups by muscle alone. How can I feel free to exert my wild will without the protections of civility? Even if there isn't a clear answer, or answers I agree with, I wanted the issue to be addressed. Hopefully Jacobi will continue to add to his writings on the subject and widen his arguments, as Repent to the Primitive was in all ways an edifying, pleasurable, and quick read.
"At best, my words can find those already convinced, providing them a new individual’s perspective and approach; or they can give a conscious expression of the unease many individuals feel but cannot articulate."
I belong to the second group, having had no prior experience or education in primitivism, but having felt that inexpressible unease dog my steps more with each passing year.
As a survey of a field with which I am wholly unfamiliar, I can't speak to its comprehensiveness, nor its "accuracy", if such a word can even be meaningfully applied to a philosophical document. But I can speak to the qualities of clarity, accessibility, and sincerity—all of which "Repent to the Primitive" has in spades. Jacobi takes care to define overlapping and discrete terms that will be central to his thesis—"wilderness" and "wildness", "civility" and "civilization", "nature", "artifice", "humanism", "ecocentricism" and so on. He then uses these terms to advance arguments against weaker/mitigated versions of primitivist philosophies, and argue for the centrality of wilderness to humanity's longevity and ability to flourish, in social, metaphysical, and existential senses.
I wish more had been written on what primitivism means for the subaltern. For example, as a gal, I'm at a physical disadvantage and am vulnerable to enslavement by virtue of the body I'm saddled with. Take all men's technologies away and the white master ("master" because of historical accidents of technical advancement) can no longer subjugate the black or brown subaltern; but both may subjugate the women in their social groups by muscle alone. How can I feel free to exert my wild will without the protections of civility? Even if there isn't a clear answer, or answers I agree with, I wanted the issue to be addressed. Hopefully Jacobi will continue to add to his writings on the subject and widen his arguments, as Repent to the Primitive was in all ways an edifying, pleasurable, and quick read.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews