The Parasite (Posthumanities) | 
 enlarge | Author: Michel Serres
Publisher: Univ Of Minnesota Press
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 274478
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 6 x 0.6
ISBN: 0816648816
Dewey Decimal Number: 844.914
EAN: 9780816648818
ASIN: 0816648816
Publication Date: May 25, 2007
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Product Description
Influential philosopher Michel Serres’s foundational work uses fable to explore how human relations are identical to that of the parasite to the host body. Among Serres’s arguments is that by being pests, minor groups can become major players in public dialogue?creating diversity and complexity vital to human life and thought. Michel Serres is professor in history of science at the Sorbonne, professor of Romance languages at Stanford University, and author of several books, including Genesis. Lawrence R. Schehr is professor of French at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Cary Wolfe is Bruce and Elizabeth Dunlevie Professor of English at Rice University. His books include Zoontologies: The Question of the Animal (Minnesota, 2003).
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| Customer Reviews:
poetic profound philosophy December 17, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
This treasured book stands as a profound meditation on human existence in relation to the world, the manifold scales at which power operates, shading from literal to allegorical, then to economic to revolutionary, and yet all seemingly one vibrating phenomenon, that of host to parasite. Prepare yourself for an enlightening exposition of this theme, go ahead and try to prepare--this book will still blow your mind. I've never been able to escape the force of his argument yet. This is one of the books that changed the way I look at the world.
A classic philosophical text August 3, 2007
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Written by history and science professor Michel Serres, and expertly translated from the original French by professor of French Lawrence R. Schehr (no simple feat, as Serres often expressed himself in unusual styles and multilingual puns), The Parasite is an eyebrow-raising treatise that compares how human relations are frequently identical to the relationship between a parasite and the host body. Serres does not decry this situation as universally deleterious; to the contrary, he points out that by being vocal pests, small groups can raise their collective power to influence public dialogue, engendering the diversity and complexity vital to vibrant human thought and culture. "The position of a parasite is to be between. That is why it must be said to be a being or a relation. But the attribute of the parasite... is its specificity. It is not just anything that troubles a passing message. It is not just anyone who is invited to someone's table. A given larva develops only in a certain organism and is carried only by a certain vector." Originally published in 1982, this re-release of a classic philosophical text is highly recommended especially for college library philosophy shelves and scholarly reading lists.
Excellent overview of the concept of parasitism August 9, 2000
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
Serres the polymath strikes again, with an extensive and detailed examination of the history of the concept of parasitism in history, philosophy, science and literature. The discussion of the literary parasite is especially useful for Anglo-American readers that might not be familiar with the concept. Try to find this at a good university library, or order it online if you can.
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