The Philosopher's Plant: An Intellectual Herbarium
Michael Marder
Abstract
Despite their conceptual allergy to vegetal life, philosophers have used germination, growth, blossoming, fruition, reproduction, and decay as illustrations of abstract concepts; mentioned plants in passing as the natural backdrops for dialogues, letters, and other compositions; spun elaborate allegories out of flowers, trees, and even grass; and recommended appropriate medicinal, dietary, and aesthetic approaches to select species of plants. This book illuminates the vegetal centerpieces and hidden kernels that have powered theoretical discourse for centuries. Choosing twelve botanical specim ... More
Despite their conceptual allergy to vegetal life, philosophers have used germination, growth, blossoming, fruition, reproduction, and decay as illustrations of abstract concepts; mentioned plants in passing as the natural backdrops for dialogues, letters, and other compositions; spun elaborate allegories out of flowers, trees, and even grass; and recommended appropriate medicinal, dietary, and aesthetic approaches to select species of plants. This book illuminates the vegetal centerpieces and hidden kernels that have powered theoretical discourse for centuries. Choosing twelve botanical specimens that correspond to twelve significant philosophers, it recasts the development of philosophy through the evolution of human and plant relations. A philosophical history for the postmetaphysical age, this text reclaims the organic heritage of human thought.
Keywords:
vegetal life,
germination,
growth,
blossoming,
fruition,
reproduction,
decay,
allegories,
human thought,
abstract concepts
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2012 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780231169035 |
| Published to Columbia Scholarship Online: November 2015 |
DOI:10.7312/columbia/9780231169035.001.0001 |
