Onto-Ethologies: The Animal Environments of Uexkull, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, and Deleuze

By Brett Buchanan

Examines the significance of animal environments in contemporary continental thought.

German biologist Jakob von Uexk ll focused on how an animal, through its behavioral relations, both impacts and is impacted by its own unique environment. Onto-Ethologies traces the influence of Uexk ll's ideas on the thought of Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Gilles Deleuze, as they explore how animal behavior might be said to approximate, but also differ from, human behavior. It is the relation between animal and environment that interests Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, and Deleuze, and yet it is the differences in their approach to Uexk ll (and to concepts such as world, body, and affect) that prove so fascinating. This book explores the ramifications of these encounters, including how animal life both broadens and deepens the ontological significance of their respective philosophies.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 079147612X
• ISBN13: 9780791476123
• Release Date: July 2009
• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Length: 236 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.9" x 8.9"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher