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2002 Abstracts Stage 3

The Fortunes of a Little Tick

Rebecca Leary, 2002, Stage 3

Background · I have a biological background and a deep interest in nature. · Throughout my degree I have looked at Darwinian evolution, in the past I have compared Darwin with Nietzsche Ethology · Ethology is looking at the behaviour of an organism within its environment. · Writers such as Deleuze have applied ethology to philosophy. Sources · Incorporations: Guattari’s essay ‘Regimes, Pathways, Subjects’ Deleuze’s work ‘Ethology: Spinoza and Us’ Key Points · Both writers provide alternatives to the positivistic study of nature, evolution and science · They teach us that we should look at the world around us from where we are. · Most importantly it must be realised the animal being studied is never separable from its relations with the world · Ethology is fragmented, · The rise of powerful technologies leads us to a point in history where progress is irreversible Examples 1. Little Hans · As a child little Hans maintains his innocence and can look at the world like an ethologist. · In his eyes the Plough horse is more similar to an ox than to a race horse. 2. The tick. · We should look at the tick by the capacities it is capable of. The tick responds to three things in three ways: 1.Light, 2. Olfactive, 3.Thermal · The tick, like every living creature has an Umwelt. Conclusions · We are loosing track of sustainable development. History is becoming irreversible. Maybe ethology can help? · Deleuze succeeds in presenting us with an alternative way of looking at the world. Instead of the positivistic categorising we must look at the world from where we are. · Guattari suggests we must think about sustainability; we can’t stay where we are now, otherwise we will destroy our planet.

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