Carolyn Merchant (1) (1936–)

This book remains a classic after over 40 years in print, and rightfully so.

Merchant examines how the Scientific Revolution happened hand-in-hand with the rise of capitalism, the justification of ecological exploitation, and further suppression of women's freedom. Before the Scientific Revolution, nature was seen as an organic whole, and humans were an integral but equal part in this organic system. Science focused on studying the relationships between microcosms and macrocosms and show more understanding the system as a whole. Nature was portrayed as a goddess who gave bounty in exchange for reverence and harmony.

Then the Scientific Revolution began to focus on laws that can be universally applied, and on breaking things down into small components and understanding those components individually. It also focused on how to exploit nature to get the most out of it in the interests of capitalism. In essence, the Scientific Revolution re-imagined the world as a machine rather than a living organism. A machine has predictable behavior, exists to serve man, and has no life or soul. This shift in thinking completely changed the course of history.

Merchant examines in detail how this shift happened, in both scientific thinking and in literature. It's clear from reading this that the Scientific Revolution was the beginning of rampant capitalism, the current climate crisis, and our difficulty with understanding nature as a whole system instead of as a bunch of discrete parts. It's fascinating to think about how different the world would be if these changes hadn't happened. show less

"The Death of Nature" is one of Carolyn Merchant's most well known works. In this volume she explores the history of scientific philosophy and theory as it evolved through the Renaissance into Early Modern Europe.

Merchant analyses the evolution from an organismic perspective of nature, where the Earth was seen as alive, to a mechanist view of the cosmos, where the earth, and much of the universe, began to be seen as inanimate matter.

Merchant traces this framework change alongside economic show more changes from the 16th-18th centuries, demonstrating how proto-capitalism and a perspective of inanimate nature fused into a capitalist method that permitted exploitation of an inaminate nature, along with those perceived as lower on the chain of being - women, Indigenous peoples and black people.

This work is a fascinating insight into the history of scientific thought and proto-capitalism, that truly allows the reader to understand the ways that humanity has historically rationalized exploitation and hierarchy.

I do wish the Franciscans were mentioned alongside other late medieval and Renaissance thinkers of an animate world, as Francis of Assisi was a highly notable medieval thinker that saw God in nature, and could have contributed to this historical overview. show less

Über Jahrtausende galt die Natur als etwas Organisches, Heiliges. Nach naturwissenschaftlicher Revolution und Aufklärung aber begriff sie der Mensch nur noch als eine Produktions- und Reproduktionsmaschine, die ihm zu dienen habe - vor allem jedoch dem Mann. Denn mit der Abwertung der Natur ging die Abwertung der Frau als naturverhaftet und irrational einher.

Carolyn Merchant zeigt in ihrem bahnbrechenden Werk, wie sich dieses Weltbild durchsetzte, nimmt aber auch Gegenbewegungen in den show more Blick, die uns bei der Suche nach einer neuen Ethik der Partnerschaft zwischen den Menschen und zwischen Mensch und Natur helfen können. Ein Meilenstein für Ökofeminismus und Wissenschaftsgeschichte. show less

Carolyn Merchant takes the reader through the past 400 years of New England's history with an environmental lens, noting three ecological revolutions. More than just analysing the environment, however, Merchant analyzes economic conditions and modes of production, social and cultural relations including science and religion, and women's history, demonstrating how capitalism dispossessed many New Englanders from the land, and how they resisted before capitalism won out.

By weaving these show more together, Merchant provides the reader with a fascinating account, ending in a philosophical epilogue that highlights the need of environmental action - and offering a philosophical framework and suggestions of how New England can go about it.

The one weakness I can note is that after the initial chapters, and prior to the epilogue, there is not much discussion of the Indigenous peoples in New England and any ongoing dispossession from the land, which would have been beneficial in understanding the continuing environmental impacts of colonization. Further, in the final chapters, when discussing the rise of capitalism and textile mills in the region, the discussion of the French Canadian and Irish immigrants working in these industries is not present.

The inclusion of ethnic others and their own dispossessions and exploitation in a capitalist extractavist economy may have added additional strength to the historic analysis, and contributed to the epilogue as well.

Overall, this book is a fantastic read, and offers critical insight. I would highly recommend it to any student of New England history, environmentalism, feminism, or marxism. It may quickly become one of your favorites as well! show less