Theory of the Earth
Thomas NailWe need a new philosophy of the earth.
Geological time used to refer to slow and gradual processes, but today
we are watching land sink into the sea and forests transform into
deserts. We can even see the creation of new geological strata made of
plastic, chicken bones, and other waste that could remain in the fossil
record for millennia or longer. Crafting a philosophy of geology that
rewrites natural and human history from the broader perspective of
movement, Thomas Nail provides a new materialist, kinetic ethics of the
earth that speaks to this moment.
Climate change and other
ecological disruptions challenge us to reconsider the deep history of
minerals, atmosphere, plants, and animals and to take a more
process-oriented perspective that sees humanity as part of the larger
cosmic and terrestrial drama of mobility and flow. Building on his
earlier work on the philosophy of movement, Nail argues that we should
shift our biocentric emphasis from conservation to expenditure, flux,
and planetary diversity. Theory of the Earth urges us to rethink our ethical relationship to one another, the planet, and the cosmos at large.
About the author
Thomas Nail is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Denver. He is the author of The Figure of the Migrant (Stanford, 2015) and Being and Motion (2018).