The container of exploration for this season’s Slow Study Sessions is the theme of Aliveness. We’ll be rooting into this theme through a slow and mindful exploration of Matter and Desire by Andreas Weber.

In Matter and Desire, internationally renowned biologist and philosopher Andreas Weber rewrites ecology as a tender practice of forging relationships, of yearning for connections, and of expressing these desires through our bodies. Being alive is an erotic process–constantly transforming the self through contact with others, desiring ever more life. In clever and surprising ways, Weber recognizes that love–the impulse to establish connections, to intermingle, to weave our existence poetically together with that of other beings–is a foundational principle of reality. The fact that we disregard this principle lies at the core of a global crisis of meaning that plays out in the avalanche of species loss and in our belief that the world is a dead mechanism controlled through economic efficiency. Although rooted in scientific observation, Matter and Desire becomes a philosophy for the Anthropocene, a “poetic materialism,” that closes the gap between mind and matter. Ultimately, Weber discovers in order to save life on Earth–and our own meaningful existence as human beings–we must learn to love.

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