Plato's Revenge

Politics in the Age of Ecology

Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Science, Biological Sciences, Environmental Science, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Political, Nature
Cover of the book Plato's Revenge by William Ophuls, The MIT Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: William Ophuls ISBN: 9780262297639
Publisher: The MIT Press Publication: August 19, 2011
Imprint: The MIT Press Language: English
Author: William Ophuls
ISBN: 9780262297639
Publisher: The MIT Press
Publication: August 19, 2011
Imprint: The MIT Press
Language: English

A provocative essay that imagines a truly ecological future based on political transformation rather than the superficialities of “sustainability.”

In this provocative call for a new ecological politics, William Ophuls starts from a radical premise: “sustainability” is impossible. We are on an industrial Titanic, fueled by rapidly depleting stocks of fossil hydrocarbons. Making the deck chairs from recyclable materials and feeding the boilers with biofuels is futile. In the end, the ship is doomed by the laws of thermodynamics and by the implacable biological and geological limits that are already beginning to pinch. Ophuls warns us that we are headed for a postindustrial future that, however technologically sophisticated, will resemble the preindustrial past in many important respects. With Plato's Revenge, Ophuls, author of Ecology and the Politics of Scarcity, envisions political and social transformations that will lead to a new natural-law politics based on the realities of ecology, physics, and psychology.

In a discussion that ranges widely—from ecology to quantum physics to Jungian psychology to Eastern religion to Western political philosophy—Ophuls argues for an essentially Platonic politics of consciousness dedicated to inner cultivation rather than outward expansion and the pursuit of perpetual growth. We would then achieve a way of life that is materially and institutionally simple but culturally and spiritually rich, one in which humanity flourishes in harmony with nature.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

A provocative essay that imagines a truly ecological future based on political transformation rather than the superficialities of “sustainability.”

In this provocative call for a new ecological politics, William Ophuls starts from a radical premise: “sustainability” is impossible. We are on an industrial Titanic, fueled by rapidly depleting stocks of fossil hydrocarbons. Making the deck chairs from recyclable materials and feeding the boilers with biofuels is futile. In the end, the ship is doomed by the laws of thermodynamics and by the implacable biological and geological limits that are already beginning to pinch. Ophuls warns us that we are headed for a postindustrial future that, however technologically sophisticated, will resemble the preindustrial past in many important respects. With Plato's Revenge, Ophuls, author of Ecology and the Politics of Scarcity, envisions political and social transformations that will lead to a new natural-law politics based on the realities of ecology, physics, and psychology.

In a discussion that ranges widely—from ecology to quantum physics to Jungian psychology to Eastern religion to Western political philosophy—Ophuls argues for an essentially Platonic politics of consciousness dedicated to inner cultivation rather than outward expansion and the pursuit of perpetual growth. We would then achieve a way of life that is materially and institutionally simple but culturally and spiritually rich, one in which humanity flourishes in harmony with nature.

More books from The MIT Press

Cover of the book Participatory Politics by William Ophuls
Cover of the book Nonhuman Photography by William Ophuls
Cover of the book Quantum Computing for Everyone by William Ophuls
Cover of the book Elbow Room by William Ophuls
Cover of the book Cognitive Unconscious and Human Rationality by William Ophuls
Cover of the book The World Made Meme by William Ophuls
Cover of the book From Neuron to Cognition via Computational Neuroscience by William Ophuls
Cover of the book Connected Code by William Ophuls
Cover of the book Inventing Atmospheric Science by William Ophuls
Cover of the book Understanding Beliefs by William Ophuls
Cover of the book Undone Science by William Ophuls
Cover of the book Here/There by William Ophuls
Cover of the book Robot Ethics by William Ophuls
Cover of the book Soft is Fast by William Ophuls
Cover of the book Decoding the Social World by William Ophuls
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy