Beyond the Anthropological Difference

Elements in Environmental Humanities

by Matthew Calarco

The aim of this Element is to provide a novel framework for gaining a critical grasp on the present situation concerning animals. It offers reflections on resisting the established order as well as suggestions on what forms alternative, pro-animal ways of life might take. The central argument of the book is that the search for an anthropological difference - that is, for a marker of human uniqueness determined by way of a sharp human/animal distinction - should be set aside. In place of this traditional way of differentiating human beings from animals, the author sketches an alternative way of thinking and living in relation to animals based on indistinction, a concept that points toward the unexpected and profound ways in which human beings share in animal life, death, and potentiality. The implications of this approach are then examined in view of practical and theoretical discussions in the environmental humanities and related fields.

Kindle Edition

Published July 22, 2020

About the author

Matthew Calarco is Associate Professor of Philosophy at California State University Fullerton, USA.

Reviews

[Ece · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chose this book (after struggling to choose) among others of Calarco (whose scholarship I admire and look up to) for my doctoral exams readings and I could not be happier about my choice. It is so easy to read the whole thing in a day because his writing is very very clear and it flows unlike many theory books I have to read. I am very very grateful for the references too, I will be looking them up soon. Read this no matter what you do, whether you’re in academia or not.