Matter and Desire

Nautilus Award Gold Medal Winner, Ecology & Environment InMatter and Desire, internationally renowned biologist and philosopher Andreas Weber rewrites ecology as a tender practice of forging relationships, of yearning for connections, and of expressing these desires through our bodies. Being alive is an erotic process-constantly transforming the self through contact with others, desiring ever more life.In clever and surprising ways,Weber recognizes that love-the impulse to establish connections, to intermingle, to weave our existence poetically together with that of other beings-is a foundational principle of reality. The fact that we disregard this principle lies at the core of a global crisis of meaning that plays out in the avalanche of species loss and in our belief that the world is a dead mechanism controlled through economic efficiency.Although rooted in scientific observation,Matter and Desire becomesa tender philosophy for the Anthropocene, a 'poetic materialism,'that closes the gap between mind and matter. Ultimately, Weber discovers, in order to save life on Earth-and our own meaningful existence as human beings-we must learn to love.