Being Salmon, Being Human: Encountering the Wild in Us and Us in the Wild

by Martin Lee Mueller

Nautilus Award Silver Medal Winner, Ecology & Environment

In search of a new story for our place on earth

Being Salmon, Being Human examines Western culture's tragic alienation from nature by focusing on the relationship between people and salmon--weaving together key narratives about the Norwegian salmon industry as well as wild salmon in indigenous cultures of the Pacific Northwest.

Mueller uses this lens to articulate a comprehensive critique of human exceptionalism, directly challenging the four-hundred-year-old notion that other animals are nothing but complicated machines without rich inner lives and that Earth is a passive backdrop to human experience. Being fully human, he argues, means experiencing the intersection of our horizon of understanding with that of other animals. Salmon are the test case for this. Mueller experiments, in evocative narrative passages, with imagining the world as a salmon might see it, and considering how this enriches our understanding of humanity in the process.

Being Salmon, Being Human is both a philosophical and a narrative work, rewarding readers with insightful interpretations of major philosophers--Descartes, Heidegger, Abram, and many more--and reflections on the human-Earth relationship. It stands alongside Abram's Spell of the Sensuous and Becoming Animal, as well as Andreas Weber's The Biology of Wonder and Matter and Desire--heralding a new "Copernican revolution" in the fields of biology, ecology, and philosophy.

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Science, Environment, Spirituality, Animals

344 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2017

Reviews

[Dawnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating journey.

I don't really know how to review this book or even how to rate it. Its very different, its very special, it talks about a LOT of very important things, points out issues and problems but also talks about things that are being done, or have been or will be done, that are wonderful.

It gives us a few moments in the book where we are shown the world from the eyes of salmons -which is just about as strange as you can imagine, but at the same time interesting and very different.

Its just a different type of book, not bad different... just different.

I think that if you see the title and think this book will interest you? IT WILL!

But if you see the title and just think thats stupid, how can someone put salmon and human on the same level? And are not at all interested to see how that might work? DONT READ THIS BOOK.

Its that simple. Because if you are interested simply from what the title tells you? this book will be full of information and interesting moments.

If not? It will be very strange and most likely not all all something you enjoy.


Personally for me it was a good experience, i do wish that some things would have been kept a bit shorter, that some moments wouldn't feel as much like a lecture or a fictionalised novel (those fish moments where strange for me!) but all in all it was great and a really interesting read!


*Thanks to NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a free e-copy of this book in exchange for a free and honest review*

[meowdeleine]

LAZY. the author misunderstands descartes and romanticizes concepts which are already inherently romantic. i will go see the salmon run and write a better version of this book

[Signe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow I really loved this book. Life should be about connection, about honoring what we are given. Culture should built around those connections and thanksgivings. How rich our world and economy would be if we lived this way!

[David Wilkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

How we need to change modernity’s metaphysics. And why the decisions we make now will affect our biosphere for hundreds of thousands of years. And why salmon should be thought of as our elders.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.78 stars. 344 pages of absolutely ROASTING Rene Descartes into a burnt French fry and simultaneously honoring salmon. Not two concepts I would normally imagine together, but Mueller makes it work!

PT: intersection of art and science lit, marine bio, empathy in science, architecture and sustainability, science books

WIL
1) enthusiasm!!!!!! Science authors that are liberal with their exclamation points, my beloveds!! See also: Neil Shubin.

2) Empathy in science. This is THE book for re-establishing empathy in sciences. This is by far the most compelling and *thorough* argument I’ve seen for efforts to bring kindness into scientific work. Well done, Mueller! That’s such a wonderful and necessary concept to bring to the world of scientific literature!!

3) Last chapter!!! The world through the eyes of salmon!! I just know Jonathon Balcombe was beaming on this bit.

WIDL
1) some chapters felt unnecessarily redundant. Once Mueller established the fault of Cartesian duality, he didn’t need to continually RE-establish it. Coulda shaved off a few pages here.

2) Philosophy Nerd Mueller gets a tad carried away. Some sentences are a little Much for my taste. Mueller loves philosophy and artistry of words, and it shows. That’s great, and I love that for him, but also the text concepts are already complex enough without creating artful flourishes/embellishments on key lines. I did appreciate some of the embellishment, but I’d’ve preferred a lesser degree of embellishments.

Neutral ground
1) cntrl f: “ontological” “epistemological” “fluid”

[Theodore Kermes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finally finished this book. I've been busy with school, but now I'm done and have free time again.

This book made me very sad. I think that Mueller's ideas are correct, but I don't feel that they'll catch on.

Mueller describes our place in the world and he does it by examining our relationship with salmon. For thousands of years humans had a reciprocal relationship with salmon and the Earth. We could take what we needed to sustain ourselves. Modernity and modern civilization does not allow for this anymore. We must only take and consume. Give and take no longer exists. Only take. We have lost ourselves to ourselves and removed most (but not all) connections that tethered us to the womb of out Mother Earth.

There is a lot of philosophy that I only barely understood. What I did understand from this book is that we are at a very important time in the history of our species. Either we reevaluate what it means to be human and how we relate to the planet or we will die. If we all could understand the lives of salmon and their attuned place on this cradle then maybe we could find our own place.

[Shanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. Thank you, Mueller for putting into words this perspective that makes so much sense, and is so important. This book is deep with complex and meaningful ideas. Not my easiest read, for sure, but worth the effort. Mueller explains the idea that humans are an integral part of this world, inhabitants alongside non-humans, not above or better than any others, and we have a responsibility to stop being selfish and destructive, and instead be productive, collaborative participants in this big beautiful system we call Earth.

[giftedteacher · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a teacher, I'm always looking for ways to instill respect for nature in my students. Although this is not a book for young children, it helped me re-find my respect and love for nature, which I can pass on to my students. Overall, this is a very thought-provoking read, and I would recommend to almost anyone.

I received a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow.

I think the subtitle is misleading and over-simplistic compared to the contents. This book is a JOURNEY.

Lays out theoretical, spiritual, practical, and functional frameworks showing the importance of fully integrating with our indigeneity on this planet. A critical step for humanity to mature and heal. Elucidates both the paradigm shifts that caused and will lead us out of imagining humanity as separation from all else, including other humans.

[Gracie · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5
I really enjoyed this book!
It dives into philosophy and ethics a bit more than i expected and i’m not sure how i feel about some of the interpretations on philosophies presented in this book. Also, since i’m currently in an environmental ethics class it felt more like homework or assigned reading because of that so i would like to reread in the future with fresh eyes.

[Dave]

Fantastic. A deep dive into the Cartesian split and how it got us to the point where wiping out a species seemed like a good idea to somebody. A nice exploration of the alternative point of view espoused by indigenous people.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

ran out of renews and couldn't finish on time, interesting though

[Hannah Nussbaum · Rating 3 out of 5]

I DNF just due to the fact of this book not being what I expected