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The Environmental Uncanny

A Phenomenology of the Loss of the World

Prof. Brian A. Irwin (John Jay College of Criminal Justice, USA)

$59.99

Paperback

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English
Bloomsbury Academic
22 January 2026
The Environmental Uncanny argues that the increasing destitution of our world is the result of a certain forgetfulness: we have forgotten that the basis of our knowledge is not calculative reason, but our participation in the natural world. The modern built environment is exemplary of this forgetfulness, and induces an uncanniness that can help us to understand the nature of our environmental crisis. This book offers a unique interdisciplinary perspective on the global environmental crisis. Ranging from traditional phenomenology, including substantial discussion of both Merleau-Ponty and Heidegger, to philosophy of biology, to architectural and urban design theory, to landscape photography, it makes illuminating connections to paint a multifaceted picture. Tracing the root causes of dwindling biodiversity, deforestation and suburban sprawl, we can find how might we mark the path back toward a mode of rich inhabitation in a contemporary age. In charting out how it is that we are losing our world, Irwin offers a thought as to how we might regain it.
By:  
Imprint:   Bloomsbury Academic
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 232mm,  Width: 154mm,  Spine: 18mm
Weight:   400g
ISBN:   9781350417403
ISBN 10:   1350417408
Pages:   272
Publication Date:  
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Brian Irwin is Adjunct Assistant Professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, USA. He received a PhD in Philosophy from Stony Brook University, and has published articles on phenomenology and the cognitive sciences, architecture and urban design, and the philosophy of place.

Reviews for The Environmental Uncanny: A Phenomenology of the Loss of the World

""According to Irwin, we rely on a false dilemma when describing environmental destruction that separates nature from the human world. His book explores the phenomenological ways this represents a loss in our lives. By dichotomizing nature and culture, we view the natural world as a ""storehouse of resources,"" or pristine spaces humans enter and disturb. Contemporary living means residing in a forgetfulness about our participation in the environment, which leads to poor self-understanding, and manifests in a distorted relation to our environment. The result is this ""uncanniness,"" made worse in the technological age. He uses the term intra-action to convey that an organism ""acts within and as a part of its environment, rather than acting upon or toward it"" (p. 13). Irwin asks if, in Heidegger's estimation, we are able to overcome this uncanniness. Informed by Merleau-Ponty's philosophy of the flesh, Irwin envisions an embodied inhabitation in the world with the understanding that the uncanniness may be inescapable. Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty."" --M. A. Betz, Rutgers University, Camden, Choice Reviews


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