This text is a mixture of poetry, philosophy, science, and biography exemplary of the style of thinking that has made Michel Serres one of the most extraordinary thinkers of his age. His philosophical and poetic inquiry sings in praise of earth and life, what he names singularly as Biogea. In these times when species are disappearing, when catastrophic events such as earthquakes and tsunamis impale the earth, Michel Serres wonders if anyone “worries about the death pangs of the rivers.” And for Serres, one can ask the same question of philosophy in the midst of its death throes as the humanities are increasingly finding themselves once again in need of defenders. Today, all living organisms find themselves part of this Biogea. “Today we have other neighbors, constituents of the Biogea: the sea, my lover; our mother, the Earth, becomes our daughter; this beautiful breeze which inspires the spirit, a spiritual mistress; our light friends, the fresh and flowing waters…”
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