Richard J. Bernstein 
The Vicissitudes of Nature 
From Spinoza to Freud

The relation between humans and nature is at the core of the great existential threats of our time, from climate change, extreme weather, and environmental destruction to devastating pandemics. We are becoming increasingly aware of the fact that, unless we change our behavior radically and quickly, the most likely outcome will be the destruction of countless species and forms of life, including our own. But we also need to change the way we think about nature, and think about the relation between humans and nature – this is a key intellectual task.

In this important book, Richard J. Bernstein argues that an adequate conception of humans and nature, capable of facing up to the existential threats of our time, requires taking full account of the major projects dealing with nature in the past. Focusing on key figures of modernity – Spinoza, Hume, Kant, Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud – Bernstein reconstructs their conceptions of nature and uncovers the reasons that led them to their distinctive views. Working through the contradictions and incompatibilities among these diverse thinkers, Bernstein identifies common themes that have shaped their struggles in dealing with the relation of humans to nature. He offers a critical overview of the challenges illuminated by each perspective that must be confronted in our thinking of nature today.

As a prolegomenon to rethinking humanity and nature, this book uncovers the rich conceptual resources available within the modern tradition that can help us to develop an adequate understanding of nature for our time.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface

Introduction

Part I The Philosophy of Nature

Chapter 1 Spinoza: Founder of Modern Naturalism

Chapter 2 Hume: The Experimental Method and the Science of Man

Chapter 3 Kant: Copernican Turn–Nature, Reason, and Freedom

Chapter 4 Hegel: Nature and Geist

Part II The Hermeneutics of Suspicion

Prologue

Chapter 5 Marx: The Transaction of Nature and Social Man

Chapter 6 Nietzsche: Nature and the Affirmation of Life

Chapter 7 Freud: Human Nature, Psychic Reality, and Cosmological Speculation

Coda

Concluding Remarks

Notes

References

Über den Autor

Richard J. Bernstein is Vera List Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York.