#264 | Becoming Animal: The Whole Is Less Than The Sum Of Its Parts w/ Julian Langer
Intro: 9:45
In this episode, I speak with eco-radical philosopher, writer, and poet Julian Langer.
We begin this discussion by addressing Julian's recent essay ‘The Whole is Less than the Sum of its Parts,’ in which he redefines what we commonly understand "collectivism" and "individualism" to be:
"If collectivism is correct, and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, then it doesn’t matter if 10% of a coral reef is bleached, or 20%, or 90%, because you have this transcendental greater than, which remains. Likewise, the death of 1 polar bear doesn’t matter, because individuals are inconsequential, and neither does the extinction of 1 species, because you still have this larger whole of earth that matters more, and likewise it doesn’t matter if 200 individual species comprised of statistically irrelevant individuals die due to ecocide, because the transcendental whole remains." (https://bit.ly/3h0ySNR)
Also, we address themes addressed in some of his other writings, including his thoughts on solitude in ‘A Thought On Solitude,’ as well as his recent reviews of the journal ‘Against Green Reactionaries’ and my new book ‘We Live in the Orbit of Beings Greater Than Us.’
Julian Langer is the author of ‘Feral Consciousness: Deconstruction of the Modern Myth and Return to the Woods,’ ‘Feral Iconoclasm: Anarchy as Rising and Dying,’ and ‘Mesodma.’ Julian defines his himself as an eco-anarchist, guerrilla ontologist philosopher, musician, and activist. Julian exists and resides on the land of Briton.
Episode Notes:
- Learn more about Julian and read his work: https://ecorevoltblog.wordpress.com
- Read the essays and reviews discussed in this episode: https://bit.ly/3h0ySNR / https://bit.ly/3g1fBdR / https://bit.ly/2Y65Jcn / https://bit.ly/3at9FZE
- Learn more about and purchase his books ‘Feral Consciousness,’ ‘Feral Iconoclasm,’ and ‘Mesodma’: https://ecorevoltblog.wordpress.com/books
- The songs featured in this episode are “Shoouss Lullaby,” “The Endless,” and “Piano Days” by Teebs from the album E s t a r a: https://youtu.be/WWw1ul3n2JI / https://youtu.be/Y9WCYnju1SQ / https://youtu.be/faArTLXUfl4