Merleau-Ponty and the Human-Animal Relation: From Eros to Environmental Responsibility

(Hardback)

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Contemporary environmental crises and general feelings of estrangement from the earth and its creatures can be traced, at least in part, to deficiencies in intimacy. This book begins from Merleau-Ponty's descriptions of the origins of animal desire, then advocates for transformation of the human-animal relation in a manner that pushes further toward ethical conclusions than did Merleau-Ponty himself. Shifting from analysis first in an aesthetic, then in an ethical, and finally in an ethico-religious register, with contemporary environmental concerns in mind, it charts a path for healing the human-animal relation both within, with respect to one's own animality, and without, with respect to animals of other species, based on the maturation of desire from eros to environmental responsibility.