A Foray into the Worlds of Animals and Humans
by Jakob von Uexküll
1934 (2010) · University of Minnesota Press · 273 pages
Jakob Uexküll (1864–1944), an Estonian-German biologist who rejected Darwinian biology, shaped the term “Umwelt” (environment) and led the Hamburg Institute for Environmental Research from 1925 until 1940.
“Unlike many of his contemporaries, Uexküll saw animals not as mere machines but as sentient entities, whose inner worlds not only existed but were worth contemplating. Uexküll didn’t exalt the inner worlds of humans over those of other species. Rather, he treated the Umwelt concept as a unifying and leveling force.” (Ed Yong)
In A Foray into the Worlds of Animals and Humans, the pioneering biophilosopher embarks on a remarkable exploration of the unique social and physical environments that individual animal species, as well as individuals within species, build and inhabit. Uexküll’s concept of the “Umwelt” holds new possibilities for the terms of animality, life, and the framework of biopolitics.
“If the moth were not batlike,
Its life would soon be over.”
