More-Than-Human Aesthetics: Venturing Beyond the Bifurcation of Nature (Dis-positions: Troubling Methods and Theory in STS)

Drawing on the philosophies of Alfred North Whitehead and Félix Guattari, this book develops aesthetics as central to all more-than-human forms of experience, including knowledge practices. Each contribution invites readers on an adventure to explore how this broader view of aesthetics can reshape areas including biomedicine, geological forensics, nuclear waste, race, as well as arts and education. This is an agenda-setting contribution to understanding the significance of aesthetics in science and technology studies, as well social and cultural research more broadly. Front Cover Series information More-Than-human Aesthetics: Venturing Beyond the Bifurcation of Nature Copyright information Table of Contents Notes on Contributors Acknowledgements Dis-Positions Series Preface 1 Beyond the Bifurcation of Nature: Tracing More-Than-Human Aesthetics in Times of Socio-Ecological Crisis Aesthetics in times of socio-ecological crisis Aesthetics and the bifurcation of nature Generalization and inversion: towards a metaphysics of more-than-human aesthetic experience Specifying and singularizing aesthetics Returning to the arts? The efficacy of aesthetic figures The structure of the book Notes References PART I Feeling and Experiencing 2 Whitehead, Dewey, Metaphysics, Aesthetics, Experience and Our World(s) Introduction Whitehead and the (metaphysical) need for aesthetics Some details: Whitehead’s use of ‘aesthetic’ within Process and Reality A missing shade of blue Examples, metaphysics and John Dewey Notes References 3 Eternal Objects of Nuclear Waste Futures Introduction Eternal objects: definiteness in experience and the indefinite production of values The pursuit of eternal objects in nuclear semiotic markers Notes References 4 Geo-Narrativity: Anthropocene, Aesthetics, Forensics Deep-time aesthetics Fossils: planetary forensics Technofossils: the Anthropocene’s speculative forensics Note References 5 Race and Reality: Towards a Social Aesthetics of Race Introduction The social aesthetics of A.N. Whitehead The aesthetic problem(s) of race The fiction(s) of race Racial projects as aesthetic projects Forms of racial sensibility Towards a social aesthetics of race Notes References PART II Problematizing and (Re)Valuing 6 A New Taste for Life? Value Ecologies and the Aesthetics of the Outside Swan songs Immanent values and the ecology of the virtual Aesthetic machines and the arts of existence Notes References 7 Variations on the Great Refusal via Dante and Whitehead The ambivalence of the great refusal ‘Abandon all hope, you who enter here’: from Dante to Mark Fisher Whitehead: from viltade to virtue The removal of perplexity: the great refusal I Negativity in its own right: the great refusal II Notes References 8 Aesthetic Axiology: Amanda Piña’s Climatic Dances/Danzas Climáticas Opening address Aesthetic practices and the nature–culture divide Aesthetic axiology Dances Danzas Ends Notes References PART III Infecting and Caring 9 To Err is More Than More-Than-Human: Patient Safety and the Aesthetics of a Never Event Introduction Never events and patient safety Aesthetics, prehensions and negative prehensions The anaesthetics of a possible embolism The aesthetics of a more-than-human care system Conclusion Acknowledgements Notes References 10 Machinic Highs and Pathic Patchworks of Addicted Systems Introduction ‘Meaningful social interactions’ Pathic experience: machinic environment Modular de-compositions Don’t make me think Conclusion: addicted systems Notes References 11 On the Aesthetics of Care/Care of Aesthetics in Social Scientific Research Introduction High finish/low finish Matters of care Aesthetics and care: the event of ‘fit’ Too much finish, too much care? Unreciprocated care? Other circulations of care? Concluding remarks: the aesthetics of care/care of aesthetics References PART IV (Un)Learning and Luring 12 An Ethology of Abstractions: Learning How to Cultivate Our Modes of Thought with Stengers Introduction The diversity of modes of abstraction Possibles haunting beings Cultivating possibles Conclusion Notes References 13 Back to the Classroom: What Whitehead Took from Art, and What a New Aesthetic Paradigm Can Take from Whitehead Introduction The art in education: generalizing the aesthetic Aesthetic significance in Modes of Thought Conclusion Notes References 14 Schools of Feeling: Unlearning the Bifurcation of Nature Through Aesthetic Education Introduction The machinic workings of the bifurcation of nature The inversion of aesthetic education Schools of feeling Countering over-specialization and the disconnect between disciplines Relaying situated knowledges The place of the arts ‘Our one ground for optimism’: religious experience as aesthetic education Notes References Index In a present marked by planetary crisis, a radical rethinking of aesthetics is necessary. This inspirational collection proposes a new way of thinking about aesthetics as fundamental to cultivating more liveable futures. Drawing on the philosophies of Alfred North Whitehead and Flix Guattari, the book develops aesthetics as central to all more-than-human forms of experience, including knowledge practices. Each contribution invites readers on an adventure to explore how this broader view of aesthetics can reshape areas including biomedicine, geological forensics, nuclear waste, race, as well as arts and education. This is an agenda-setting contribution to understanding the significance of aesthetics in science and technology studies, as well social and cultural research more broadly. This imaginative collection invites readers to explore how a broader view of aesthetics can reshape areas like, medicine, arts and education, challenging how we think about knowledge. It is an agenda-setting contribution to understanding the significance of aesthetics in science and technology studies.