Timothy Morton

Relevant Work
(NATC, 3rd ed.)

## Biography

Timothy Morton was born in London in 1968 and received his B.A. and D.Phil. in English from Oxford University. He has held an array of positions from visiting fellow at Princeton University to assistant professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He has held the Rita Shea Guffey Chair in English at Rice University since 2012. Morton's interests focus on ecology, food studies, and Romanticism. (NATC 3rd ed, 2619)

## from *The Ecological Thought*

### **Key Words and Terms**

* Ecological thought: the ability to perceive interrelatedness.
* Nature (with a captial N): an ideology of an ideal and pure image of nature.

### **Key Quotations**

* "The ecological thought is a virus that infects all other areas of thinking" (2621).
* "Moreover, the *form* of the ecological thought is at least as important as its *content"* (2623).
* "The ecological thought is modern" (2624).
* "The *ecological thought* is the thinking of interconnectedness. The ecological thought is a thought about ecology, but it's also a thinking that is ecological. Think the ecological thought is part of an ecological project" (2625).
* " . . . the ethics of the ecological thought is to regard beings as people even when they aren't people" (2626).
* "Thinking the ecological thought is difficult: it involves becoming open, radically open--open forever, without the possibility of closing again" (2626).
* "Is the ecological thought thinking about ecology? Yes and no. It is a thinking that is ecological, a contemplating that is a doing. Reframing our world, our problems, and ourselves is part of the ecological project. This is what *praxis* means--action that is thoughtful and thought that is active. Aristotle asserted that the highest form of praxis was contemplation. We shouldn't be afraid to withdraw and reflect" (2627).
* "Art is ecological insofar as it is made from materials and exists in the world" (2629).
* "Ecology permeates all forms" (2629).
* "The ecological thought is about warmth and strangeness, infinity and proximity, tantalizing 'thereness' and head-popping, wordless openness" (2630).
* "The ecological thought is intrinsically open, so it doesn't really matter where you begin" (2630).

### **Discussion**

In the NATC 3rd edition selection from *The Ecological Thought*, Morton explores the "interrelatedness of various forms of life and thinking." In using the awkward phrase "the ecological thought," Morton refers to the ability to perceive "interconnectedness." In this selection, Morton criticizes the dividing line that we have made between Nature and ecology: Nature being an idealized version of rustic beauty with the absence of human made constructs. But Morton attacks this naive ideology when he states that everything is essentially nature--even the pipes in your basement. Because ecology serves to address the climate hazards of today, he believes that we may need an "ecology without Nature." That is, we will need think about the environment in terms of ecology and not about a "purified" version of nature. Morton also emphasizes that ecology not only "address global warming, wastewater recycling, and wind power but extends to space and time, emotions, and other features of culture" (2621).

## **Major Criticism and Reception**

According to the NATC 3rd edition, the criticism aimed at Morton is in his "leveling vitalism, in which all existence is equally animated with positive life forces" (2620). Essentially, the criticism is that Morton tends to disregard distinctions in race, class, and gender or otherwise does not mention it due to a desire to be radically open to all modes of being. There is also some criticism that his prose style tailors too much to the public and not incorporating the jargon of the theory of a Continental philosopher. But Morton maintains that he is committed to theory but wants to try and reach a wider audience. (NATC 3rd ed. 2620)

## **Bibliography**

* *Shelley and the Revolution in Taste* (1994)
* *Ecology Without Nature* (2007)
* *The Ecological Thought* (2010)
* *Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology after the End of the World (*2013)
* *Realist Magic: Objects, Ontology, Causality* (2013)
* *Nothing: Three Inquiries in Buddhism* (2015)
* *Dark Ecology: For a Logic of Future Coexistence* (2016)