
The Last Humanity
The New Ecological Science
Francois Laruelle(Author)
Bloomsbury Academic (Publisher)
Published on 12. November 2020
Book
Hardback
184 pages
978-1-350-00822-9 (ISBN)
Description
In the course of more than twenty works Francois Laruelle has developed one of the most singular and unique ways of thinking within contemporary philosophy. This volume develops the style of his late work, which has sought to combine the idioms of diverse areas (from the language of quantum mechanics to theology, messianism and Gnosticism) to create non-standard philosophical fictions which further articulate his thinking of radical immanence in relation to wide-ranging themes and concerns.
The focus here is a reassessment of his attempt to rethink what it means to be human. Much of that work has taken place through an engagement with science, politics and religion, but now we see Laruelle confronting the challenge of ecology for his kind of humanism (which he would call a 'non-humanism', meaning a non-standard humanism). This challenge is one of thinking of the ethical demands of other entities within a general ecology. Namely the lives of plants and other vegetation alongside that of animals.
Dealing with the intersections between science and philosophy in current French thought, this book is of particular interest to those concerned with the philosophical innovation and renewal of ecological thought that have influenced ecological theory. The first English translation of a key work from this highly original experimental philosopher, it will surely help cement his place in the firmament of avant-garde French thinkers, from Derrida and Deleuze to Badiou.
The focus here is a reassessment of his attempt to rethink what it means to be human. Much of that work has taken place through an engagement with science, politics and religion, but now we see Laruelle confronting the challenge of ecology for his kind of humanism (which he would call a 'non-humanism', meaning a non-standard humanism). This challenge is one of thinking of the ethical demands of other entities within a general ecology. Namely the lives of plants and other vegetation alongside that of animals.
Dealing with the intersections between science and philosophy in current French thought, this book is of particular interest to those concerned with the philosophical innovation and renewal of ecological thought that have influenced ecological theory. The first English translation of a key work from this highly original experimental philosopher, it will surely help cement his place in the firmament of avant-garde French thinkers, from Derrida and Deleuze to Badiou.
Reviews / Votes
Francois Laruelle's The Last Humanity is a unique, ambitious, and provocative adventure in ecological thinking. It offers one of the most original, realist, and dare I say deconstructive ecological encounters to date. * Rick Elmore, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Appalachian State University, USA * Laruelle's non-philosophical ecology represents an uncompromising challenge to existing ecological thought and, in this brilliantly accomplished translation, makes a provocative and landmark contribution to contemporary eco-critical debate. Laruelle aims at nothing less than a total reconfiguration of the ethical relations between the human, the animal, and biological life more generally and he succeeds in ways that we have hitherto been unable to imagine. * Ian James, Reader in Modern French Literature and Thought, University of Cambridge, UK *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Weight
313 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-350-00822-9 (9781350008229)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
11/2020
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Academic
€29.99
Available for download
Persons
Francois Laruelle is a French philosopher, formerly of the College international de philosophie and the University of Paris X: Nanterre, France.
Author
Universite de Paris X, Nanterre, France
Translation
Content
Foreword
Introduction
Chapter 1: In Search of a Messianic Ecology
Chapter 2: Philosophy's Degrowth for a Generic Ecology
Chapter 3: The House of Philosophy Is in Ruins
Chapter 4: The Antinomy of Ecology and Philosophy
Chapter 5: The Unification of the Lived-without-Life and Being-in-the-Last-Humanity
Chapter 6: Ecology as Quantum of the Messianic Lived
Conclusion: Ethics Between Ecology and Messianity
Introduction
Chapter 1: In Search of a Messianic Ecology
Chapter 2: Philosophy's Degrowth for a Generic Ecology
Chapter 3: The House of Philosophy Is in Ruins
Chapter 4: The Antinomy of Ecology and Philosophy
Chapter 5: The Unification of the Lived-without-Life and Being-in-the-Last-Humanity
Chapter 6: Ecology as Quantum of the Messianic Lived
Conclusion: Ethics Between Ecology and Messianity