Body Transformations: Evolutions and Atavisms in Culture

by Alphonso Lingis

This book presents some eruptions of archaic compulsions and behaviors and the forms that they acquire in contemporary societies. It explores how we see and feel our bodies and some of the ways evolution and culture are transforming them.

Genres: Philosophy

162 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2005

About the author

Alphonso Lingis was an American philosopher, writer and translator, with Lithuanian roots, professor emeritus of philosophy at Pennsylvania State University. His areas of specialization included phenomenology, existentialism, and ethics. Lingis is also known as a photographer, and he complements the philosophical themes of many of his books with his own photography.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm reading this book again right now, and enjoying it even more the second time around. Being someone who is interested in the instincts of humans and how those correlate with our other animal relatives, I found this book incredibly attractive.

From the back cover:

"In his new book, the philosopher Alphonso Lingis explores how we see and feel our bodies and some of the ways evolution and culture are transforming them. Working with philosophy, psychoanalysis, anthropology, and evolutionary biology, Lingis studies the evolution of physical splendor and the history of fetishism. Social structures are viewed as associates of bodies and body parts, and involve transactions with body fluids, body parts, and body representations. Body Transformations offers an ambitious and provocative understanding of chance and luck in evolution and culture."