Skin and Scales: Two Thoughts in Ecological Times

The concept ‘being-in’ indicates how beings cannot be rigorously understood without taking their environments into account—the terrain ‘in’, and from which, they exist. Being-in is in this way a thinking of the primacy of relation. This essay develops this idea with the themes of ‘skin’ and ‘scales’. Most immediately, skin is a border which is a property of individual beings that distinguishes one proper zone from others. However, skin is also porous and must be understood also as passage. If the theme of ‘skin’ reveals beings’ fundamental, constitutive relationality, then the theme of ‘scale’ highlights the problem of perspective that arises when delimiting constitutive relations. Scale critique asks of the scale from which relations are understood, that is, the ontological basis of an understanding of beings, values, and practical action. The challenge is to at once affirm a scale for the possibility of ethical and political action and at the same time, remain receptive to other scales and skins which re-introduce the question of being-in.

Content

Author and article information

Contributors

Donovan Stewart

Conference

Publication date: September 2021

Publication date (Print): September 2021

Pages: 147-152

Affiliations

[0001]Leiden Centre for Continental Philosophy

University of Leiden, The Netherlands

Article

DOI: 10.14236/ewic/POM2021.19

SO-VID: 75a59cf0-609a-4ff3-87ba-ebcf010cef05

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Conference name: Proceedings of Politics of the Machines - Rogue Research 2021

Conference acronym: POM 2021

Conference number: 3

Conference location: Berlin, Germany

Conference date: September 14-17, 2021

Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Conference theme: debate and devise concepts and practices that seek to critically question and unravel novel modes of science

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1477-9358 BCS Learning & Development

Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/POM2021.19

Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/

REFERENCES

M. Blanchot (1989) The Space of Literature. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln.
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T. Clark (2018) Scale as a Force of Deconstruction. In M. Fritsch, P. Lynes, D. Wood (eds), Eco-Deconstruction: Derrida and Environmental Philosophy. Fordham University Press, New York.
J. Derrida (1995) The Gift of Death. Chicago University Press, Chicago.
J. Derrida (2005) On Touching––Jean-Luc Nancy. Stanford University Press, Stanford.
J. Derrida (2011) The Beast and the Sovereign Volume II. Chicago University Press, Chicago.
M. Heidegger (1962) Being and Time. Harper and Row, New York.
JL. Nancy (2008) Corpus. Fordham University Press, New York.
JL. Nancy (2008) Noli me tangere: On the Raising of the Body. Fordham University Press, New York.
JL. Nancy (2013) Corpus II: Writings on Sexuality. Fordham University Press, New York.
JL. Nancy (2021) “The World’s Fragile Skin”. Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities, 26:3-4, 12-16.
F. Nietzsche (1954) Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Viking Penguin Inc, New York.

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] M. Blanchot (1989) The Space of Literature. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln.

[2] M. Blanchot (1992) The Step (Not) Beyond. SUNY Press, New York.

[3] T. Clark (2018) Scale as a Force of Deconstruction. In M. Fritsch, P. Lynes, D. Wood (eds), Eco-Deconstruction: Derrida and Environmental Philosophy. Fordham University Press, New York.

[4] J. Derrida (1995) The Gift of Death. Chicago University Press, Chicago.

[5] J. Derrida (2005) On Touching––Jean-Luc Nancy. Stanford University Press, Stanford.

[6] J. Derrida (2011) The Beast and the Sovereign Volume II. Chicago University Press, Chicago.

[7] M. Heidegger (1962) Being and Time. Harper and Row, New York.

[8] JL. Nancy (2008) Corpus. Fordham University Press, New York.

[9] JL. Nancy (2008) Noli me tangere: On the Raising of the Body. Fordham University Press, New York.

[10] JL. Nancy (2013) Corpus II: Writings on Sexuality. Fordham University Press, New York.

[11] JL. Nancy (2021) “The World’s Fragile Skin”. Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities, 26:3-4, 12-16.

[12] F. Nietzsche (1954) Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Viking Penguin Inc, New York.

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