What it is like to be an animal? Ron Broglio wants to know from the inside; from underneath the fur and feathers. In examining this question; he bypasses the perspectives of biology or natural history to explore how one can construct an animal phenomenology; to think and feel as an animal othermdash;or any other.Until now phenomenology has grappled with how humans are embedded in their world. According to philosophical tradition; animals do not practice the self-reflexive thought that provides humans with depth of being. Without human interiority; philosophers have believed; animals live on the surface of things. But; Broglio argues; the surface can be a site of productive engagement with the world of animals; and as such he turns to humans who work with surfaces: contemporary artists.Taking on the negative claim of animals living only on the surface and turning the premise into a positive set of possibilities for humanndash;animal engagement; Broglio considers artistsmdash;including Damien Hirst; Carolee Schneemann; Olly and Suzi; and Marcus Coatesmdash;who take seriously the world of the animal on its own terms. In doing so; these artists develop languages of interspecies expression that both challenge philosophy and fashion new concepts for animal studies.
#1543118 in eBooks 2011-11-03 2011-11-03File Name: B007CU19WY
Review
