Grafts

by Michael Marder

do we ever do anything other than that? And are we ever free from vegetal influences when we engage in its operations? For the philosopher Michael Marder, our reflections on vegetal life have a fundamental importance in how we can reflect on our own conceptions of ethics, politics, and philosophy in general. Taking as his starting point the simple vegetal conception of grafting, Marder guides the reader through his concise and numerous reflections on what could be described as a vegetal philosophy. Grafts are transplants either of a shoot inserted into the trunk of another tree or, surgically, of skin (among other living tissues). They are delicate operations intended to preserve, improve, and modify both the grafted materials and the body that receives them. To graft is to create unlikely encounters, hybrid mixes, and novel surfaces. Moving across disciplinary lines, Grafts combines the lessons of plant science with the history of philosophy, semiotics, literary compositions, and political theory. Co-authoring some of the texts with other philosophers, plant scientists and artists, Marder allows their insights to be grafted onto his own, and vice versa. Weighing in on contemporary debates such as the ethics of biotechnology, dietary practices or political organization, Marder inserts an unmistakable vegetal perspective into topics of discussion where it normally wouldn’t be found. Transferring the living tissue of his own texts into another context, he helps them live better, more fully, than otherwise.

Genres: Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

Published August 1, 2016

About the author

Michael Marder is IKERBASQUE Research Professor of Philosophy at the University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU), Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. An author of seven books and over 100 articles, he is a specialist in phenomenology, political thought, and environmental philosophy.

Reviews

[Nicole M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Grafts is a collection of philosophical essays regarding plants, plant intelligence, and plant ethics by the leading plant-philosopher, Michael Marder. An attractive book outwardly, like all those pressed by Univocal at their Minneapolis letterpress studio. The paper is fine to touch making pages satisfying to turn. This book isn't bad, per se, but earns only two stars because it seems like a rather repetitive compilation of writings. Indeed--Marder's argument is not a very well-known or popularly talked about topic, and it is fascinating to consider the lives of plants from a very different perspective than what is usually taken in Western culture. However, it seemed as though the same arguments were being rehashed several times through out the book--most likely because the writings were gathered from various original sources--magazine articles, interviews, etc. Furthermore, something in the tone of writing felt almost defensive--although argued well-enough, it somehow conveys a sort of 'I know this sounds crazy, but I'm still going to argue for it just for the sake of argument' feel (perhaps it's just my imagination, though).

At any rate, I'm glad to have read Grafts because I picked up several fascinating scientific facts, it expanded my mind and thoughts regarding vegetal life forms.