Weaving together insights from phenomenology and deconstruction, The Memory of the World explores how the deep past and far future are implicated in human temporality. Toadvine examines our animality through the lens of evolutionary memory, proposing the concept of “biodiacritics” to encapsulate the intricate interplay of corporeal memory and diacritical difference in understanding life’s diversity. To unravel the allure of eco-apocalypse in contemporary culture, Toadvine exposes the perilous consequences of ignoring time’s historical character by framing it as a succession of homogenous and substitutable units. Ultimately, The Memory of the World challenges the notion of calculative mastery over the future, cautioning against the repressive tendencies that risk precipitating the very apocalypse they seek to prevent.

Ted Toadvine is Nancy Tuana Director of the Rock Ethics Institute and Associate Professor of Philosophy at The Pennsylvania State University. His books include The Memory of the World, Merleau-Ponty’s Philosophy of Nature, and Eco-Phenomenology: Back to the Earth Itself. He specializes in contemporary European philosophy and the philosophy of nature and environment.

Ted Toadvine’s new book “The Memory of the World: Deep Time, Animality, and Eschatology” (University of Minnesota Press, 2024) is available here: https://www.upress.umn.edu/97815…/the-memory-of-the-world/

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