The Myth Of Human Supremacy

(Paperback)

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In this impassioned polemic, radical environmental philosopher Derrick Jensen debunks the belief in a hierarchy of nature and the superiority of humans. Vast and underappreciated complexities of nonhuman life are explored in detail; the paralysis of the scientific establishment on moral and ethical issues is confronted; and a radical new framework for assessing the intelligence and sentience of nonhuman life is put forth. A philosopher-poet of the environmental movement, Jensen sounds an urgent call for its liberation from human domination.

Reviews

"Derrick Jensen's ferocious love of this earth and all her living beings has ignited and crafteda genius work that has the potential to shift human consciousness.The Myth of Human Supremacymust be read and reread and read again. It will shatter and rearrange your beliefs,call up your sorrow and rage. It will humble you and inspire you to fight with every bit of your being for the end of hierarchy,dominance and destruction."Eve Ensler, author ofThe Vagina MonologuesandIn the Body of the World

In the hottest year we've ever recorded, perhaps people of all persuasions should take a moment to grapple with Derrick Jensen's anger and love. This is a necessary provocationit's clearly time to think anew about who and what we are. Bill McKibben, author of Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet

Jensens arguments are ferocious, heartbroken, hilarious, and lethally logical. The truths he tells are the most important in this reeling world, bar none. Kathleen Dean Moore, author of Moral Ground and Great Tide Rising

Brilliant, lucid and gorgeously written, The Myth of Human Supremacy attacks the core of the planet-scale problem, the idea that only humans matter. The book is elegant and poised; the argument unassailable; the narrative engaging, witty, and full of surprises; the research meticulous. This is perhaps my favorite of his books. Suprabha Seshan, Ashoka Fellow, Executive Director of Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary

The Myth of Human Supremacy is poetic and deeply moving. Jensen is unafraid to interrogate unquestionable assumptions and ask 'crazy' questions. Here he dismantles the core of our crises, the mythologies that guide authoritarian, unsustainable, human supremacist cultures. Read this and weep, but then with new awareness shake off emotional and ideological blinders you have been taught, and take action with those who understand that humans are one among many. Darcia Narvaez,Psychology Today

In his most important work since A Language Older Than Words, Jensen lays bare the sociopathy of the ideology of human supremacy: the fact that western 'civilization' is based on domination, thievery, and murder, while the natural world innately gravitates towards harmony and balance. This supremacy is destroying the planet, an infinitely complex living entity we've only barely begun to understand. This book is mandatory reading. Dahr Jamail, author of The End of Ice

It is said that a revolution begins in the mindan alternative to our present circumstances must first be imagined before we can be moved to fight for it. So we should all be grateful to Derrick Jensen, who with this book breaks the ideological chains of human supremacy and reveals the world as the interconnected web of being that it truly is. With our illusions ripped away, we may yet be able to save ourselves and our beautiful planet from the system that is killing us all. Stephanie McMillan, author of Capitalism Must Die

Author Bio

Philosopher, teacher, radical activist, and leading voice of uncompromising dissent, DERRICK JENSEN is winner of numerous awards and honors including the Eric Hoffer Book Award, USA Today's Critic's Choice Award, and Press Action's Person of the Year. He is the author of over twenty books, including Endgame, A Language Older Than Words, and Dreams, and he regularly stirs packed auditoriums across the country with revolutionary spirit. Jensen holds degrees in creative writing and mineral engineering physics. He lives in Crescent City, California.