David Abrams is different than the recent philosophers that we have read. What I like most about him is that he does have a poetic twist on his writing, which I enjoy a lot. Just in the introduction, he rhythmically explains to the reader that this book, Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology. His goal is to transform the reader into a “two-legged animal” that views nature as a critical part of their lives, not just something that surrounds us. He expresses a need to enable us to think in a critical way that binds us even more deeply to nature.
Abrams uses birds to focus on the Cartesian way of thinking about cognition. Abrams believes that thinking requires a whole body experience, not just the abstract involvement of the mind. Abrams also believes that technology keeps us in a shell that prevents us from experiencing actual nature. It keeps us from seeing its true value.
In class we watched parts of Winged Migration. I enjoyed watching the bits and pieces of this film much more than the Kestrel’s Eye. The sceneries were more varied and showed different species of birds and their unique characteristics. I think that watching clips of this film highlighted the beauty of nature.
I enjoyed reading Abrams so much that I am actually probably going to write my paper on him and contrast his beliefs with Descartes’ beliefs. I want to somehow tie in technology and the role that it plays in our society as well as include the two bird movies that we have watched in class. I also have been thinking about possibly tying in Lovelock’s Gaia hypothesis somewhere in my paper as well.
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