Being Alive: Humans in the Web of Life. Discussion of texts of biologists, philosophers, and anthropologists

Syllabus

1. Geological perspectives on deep time and life formation - Marcia Bjornerud

2. The role of symbiogenesis in the evolution and diversification of life - Lynn Margulis

3. The molecular kinship of life - Nick Lane, Rachel Carson

4. The metamorphoses of life in the perspective of biology - Emanuele Coccia

5. Belonging and interconnectedness in the perspective of indigenous cultures - Robin Wall Kimmerer

6. Humans as part of ecological networks - Deborah Bird Rose, Val Plumwood

7. Humans as a source of disturbances in ecological networks - Dave Goulson

8. The transforming views on humans and nature in the modern era - Bruno Latour, Andrea Wulf

9. Colonialism and the mastery over nature - Amitav Ghosh, Malcolm Ferdinand

10. Ownership of the land and the economisation of life - Garret Hardin, Milton Friedman, David Graeber, Jason Hickel

11."Buen vivir" and the persistence of indigenous cultures - Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, James Suzman

12. Life as Art - Tim Ingold

13. Metaphors of life and healing in cultural imagination - Gregg Mitman

14. Fossil freedoms and the responsibility for the future - Erazim Kohák

15. How to be good ancestors (7th generation) - discussion Lecturers MUDr. Lydie Stokes Fialová, Ph.D., M.Sc. MUDr. Kateřina Maděryčová Dr. Michael van Beinum, MBChB, Ph.D., M. Phil., M. Litt., B.Sc.

Annotation

This course aims to create a space for reflection on the human situation in the world, through discussion of texts drawing on geology, biology, philosophy and ethics, anthropology and indigenous studies. The authors of these texts provide their perspective on the world and open new horizons for their readers, without assuming expert knowledge in their areas. Their texts nevertheless challenge the common understanding of our world and therefore deserve our attention.

Authors: Marcia Bjornerud, Lynn Margulis, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Deborah Bird

Rose, Val Plumwood, Rachel Carson, Andrea Wulf, Nick Lane, Erazim Kohák,

Emanuele Coccia, Dave Goulson, Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, James Suzman,

Malcom Ferdinand, Amitav Ghosh, Tim Ingold, David Graeber, Jason Hickel, Gregg

Mitman, Bruno Latour.