The Dis(Unity) of Nature and Humanity

Paper Summary:

In "The Organic Machine," Richard White ambitiously redefines the natural world in terms of energy transfer. His is one of many contemporary views intended to counter classical conceptions of the natural world, conceptions that are still popularly held by many today. This paper shows that White's version is based on a startling and unique perspective, but one must ask whether it is satisfying and whether it is realistic.

From the Paper:

"Perhaps White is correct in stressing the fundamental unity of all action. Perhaps a handmade wooden fish wheel is essentially no different from a massive steel turbine, and perhaps all movement that occurs on the earth's surface can be condensed into simple exchanges of energy. Yet one cannot help think that this simplification somehow removes a vital facet of reality. Are Shakespeare's writings, which Emerson continually praises, mere dashes of ink on a page, fundamentally no different from any other piece of written word? Is a Beethoven Sonata really just a string of 1's and 0's on a compact disc?"

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