The philosophy of social ecology: essays on dialectical naturalism

"There is nothing more natural than humanity's capacity to conceptualize, generalize, relate ideas, engage in symbolic communication, and innovate changes in the world around it, not merely to adapt to the conditions it finds at hand." (p. 119) In a broad sense this book represents the culmination of an attempt to create a new philosophy of nature, that repudiates anti-rationalist tendencies, is humanistic, and embodies the best of the left's revolutionary tradition: social ecology. Honestly speaking, this is Murray Bookchin's most pompously written and most difficult to follow writing. The essays in this book were written independently (I think), and patched together as a book, so they are really hit and miss, and the chapter "Towards of Philosophy of Nature" being among the most tedious, and pointless of them all, while the introduction\*—being a synthesis of all the content—is the clearest, and most coherent version of the arguments found in this book. The reader can expect a good explanation of what dialectical naturalism is, the distinction between "first nature" and "second nature" are better laid bare than anywhere else, and the particularities of Murray's "dialectic reason" are explored quite thoroughly—again, quite tediously. Overall, while many passages are enlightening, others are the exact opposite. This book has done nothing but make me raise more questions about social ecology than it helped answer. And I am not talking about the good kind of questions that push the use of a theory to unexpected situations, but rather the kinds of questions that question the very foundational principles of social ecology. docu0423......Page 1 docu0424......Page 2 docu0425......Page 3 docu0426......Page 4 docu0427......Page 5 docu0428......Page 6 docu0429......Page 7 docu0430......Page 8 docu0431......Page 9 docu0432......Page 10 docu0433......Page 11 docu0434......Page 12 docu0435......Page 13 docu0436......Page 14 docu0437......Page 15 docu0438......Page 16 docu0439......Page 17 docu0440......Page 18 docu0441......Page 19 docu0442......Page 20 docu0443......Page 21 docu0444......Page 22 docu0445......Page 23 docu0446......Page 24 docu0447......Page 25 docu0448......Page 26 docu0449......Page 27 docu0450......Page 28 docu0451......Page 29 docu0452......Page 30 docu0453......Page 31 docu0454......Page 32 docu0455......Page 33 docu0456......Page 34 docu0457......Page 35 docu0458......Page 36 docu0459......Page 37 docu0460......Page 38 docu0461......Page 39 docu0462......Page 40 docu0463......Page 41 docu0464......Page 42 docu0465......Page 43 docu0466......Page 44 docu0467......Page 45 docu0468......Page 46 docu0469......Page 47 docu0470......Page 48 docu0471......Page 49 docu0472......Page 50 docu0473......Page 51 docu0474......Page 52 docu0475......Page 53 docu0476......Page 54 docu0477......Page 55 docu0478......Page 56 docu0479......Page 57 docu0480......Page 58 docu0481......Page 59 docu0482......Page 60 docu0483......Page 61 docu0484......Page 62 docu0485......Page 63 docu0486......Page 64 docu0487......Page 65 docu0488......Page 66 docu0489......Page 67 docu0490......Page 68 docu0491......Page 69 docu0492......Page 70 docu0493......Page 71 docu0494......Page 72 docu0495......Page 73 docu0496......Page 74 docu0497......Page 75 docu0498......Page 76 docu0499......Page 77 docu0500......Page 78 docu0501......Page 79 docu0502......Page 80 docu0503......Page 81 docu0504......Page 82 docu0505......Page 83 docu0506......Page 84 docu0507......Page 85 docu0508......Page 86 docu0509......Page 87 docu0510......Page 88 docu0511......Page 89 docu0512......Page 90 docu0513......Page 91 docu0514......Page 92 docu0515......Page 93 docu0516......Page 94 docu0517......Page 95 docu0518......Page 96 docu0519......Page 97 docu0520......Page 98 docu0521......Page 99 docu0522......Page 100 docu0523......Page 101 docu0524......Page 102 docu0525......Page 103 docu0526......Page 104 docu0527......Page 105 docu0528......Page 106

A useful corrective to simplistic thinking about the human predicament.—Canadian Book Review Annual

Bookchin expands upon the concept of natural evolution and delivers it from the trap of mechanistic thinking.—Imprint