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Latour Main Ideas and Question

hsymonds's picture

1. We have reached a dangerous point where many of our actions are irreversible. We no longer have the option of establishing a cooperative relationship with the Earth but must instead try to mitigate what we have already done and what we are now doing (and what the Earth is doing to us.)

2. The Earth/nature is not a distinct and unresponsive entity; it is "moving" in response to human actions.

3. Understanding the effect we have on the Earth (and the effect it has on us) requires us to reexamine the objective, "scientific" way of thinking and bring back some of the older ways of looking at the Earth.

Has the Earth previously been an object, or has it always been a subject and we did not realize it until now? Is it our relationship with the Earth that gives us the roles of subject or object, or is it the Earth itself?