Être humains sur la terre. Augustin Berque, 1996.
Berque, A. (1996) Être humains sur la terre. Gallimard.
This masterpiece by Berque is an ethical and philosophical investigation into the relationship between humanity and the Earth, through his concept of écoumène. In this work, Berque sets out what he identifies to be the philosophical foundations that have, quietly, informed our current relationship with nature and the environment. That is, cartesian dualism and the retreat of thought to the domain of the subject (being as founded in thinking), ideas that can be traced back in time to before Descartes in the classical thought of Aristotle. By shedding light on our modern understanding of our relationship with the écoumène (the Earth as inhabited by humanity), we can better understand how it has led humanity to a point of crisis in this relationship, and perhaps start to seek an alternative way of relating to our écoumène.
