Michel Serres A Brief Introduction

by Alan Murray

Michel Serres is one of the most original and dazzlingly inventive thinkers of the last hundred years. But his work is remarkably difficult and employs concepts drawn from almost every field of knowledge, including literary studies, anthropology, mathematics, physics, and biology, making it a daunting prospect for readers schooled exclusively in philosophy or the humanities. Murray’s short book offers a clear, concise, and engaging explanation of Serres’s key ideas, while at the same time situating his project in a tradition that extends from Auguste Comte to Bruno Latour via Gaston Bachelard. Covering almost the whole range of Serres’ thought from his early structuralist analyses of figures such as Lucretius, Zola, and Jules Verne, to his more recent forays into the fields of ecology and politics, this is a book that will be welcomed by anyone seeking a way into this astonishing body of work, or who would like a deeper understanding of its philosophical force and significance.

Customer Reviews
For readers who want a good, clear introduction to Serres’s work, it’s hard to imagine anything better. It’s engaging and well-written, and tells you everything you want to know in the order in which you want to know it. It’s not the comprehensive overview that I’ve been waiting for, but it packs a lot into its modest dimensions, and I came away with a strong sense of what Serres’s work is all about. My only real complaint is that, while the author supplies a very useful set of end notes, he doesn’t provide a full bibliography. On the whole, though, this is a much needed addition to the literature on Serres, and one which I found very helpful. (Anthony F on Amazon.co.uk)

Genres: Philosophy

57 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 20, 2015