For Love of Matter

<p><b>A bold and original work in ecocosmology and metaphysics.</b></p><p>In For Love of Matter Freya Mathews challenges basic assumptions of Western science modern philosophy and environmental philosophy arguing that the environmental crisis is a symptom of a larger metaphysical crisis. Western science rests on the premise that the world is an inert backdrop to human presence rather than a communicative presence in its own right one capable of dialogical congress with us. Mathews explores the transformative effects of a substitution of the latter panpsychist premise for the former materialist one. She suggests that to exist in a dialogical modality is to enter an expanded realm of eros in which the self and world are mutually kindled into a larger more incandescent state of realization. She argues that any adequate philosophical response to the so-called environmental crisis cannot be encompassed within the minor discipline of environmental philosophy but must instead address the full range of existential questions.</p>