À la recherche d'une humanité durable by Michel Juffé

Abstract

Reviewed by: À la recherche d'une humanité durable by Michel Juffé Abbey Carrico Juffé, Michel. À la recherche d'une humanité durable. L'Harmattan, 2018. ISBN 978-2-343-15719-1. Pp. 194. If Nature can be considered all-encompassing, self-creating, and self-sustaining, where does humanity fit? More precisely, how does humanity continue to fit and sustain itself when its influence on Nature, humans included, has proven so harmful? French philosopher Michel Juffé offers historical, scientific, and philosophical insight necessary to promote an ideological shift, "une réforme profonde de nos mœurs [...] et la nécessaire mesure de nos actions," that could ensure a future concerned not simply with existence but with quality of existence (138). As he claims, "Il ne suffit pas de proclamer que l'on veut préserver les générations futures, encore faut-il savoir dans quels buts et à quelles conditions" (13). Juffé challenges the reader with a deep knowledge [End Page 204] and breadth of subjects (astronomy, economics, ethology, climate change, etc.) as well as with certain controversial claims. For example, he reveals problems with the deep ecology movement of the 1990s whose language "continue à opposer l'homme au reste de la Nature" (71), and with Bruno Latour's popularized rhetoric of "human/non-human." Juffé suggests anti-tree-cruelty laws may need to be in place, and that as far as it concerns the "'persévérance dans l'être', les fabrications des fourmis sont aussi sophistiquées que les nôtres" (126). This work simultaneously reveals Juffé's broad expertise and the multifaceted nature of sustainability itself which concerns all aspects of life: socio-political, ecological, and economic, to name a few. Following evolutionary theory, cosmological argument, and a Spinozian philosophical grounding, Juffé rejects a teleological and hierarchical positioning of the human as the "end all be all" of Nature, claiming instead that humans—just like all other beings—are part of Nature and are primarily concerned with self-preservation, whatever the cost. He questions whether humans are the only ones capable of reflective communicative abilities, asserting "peut-être la croûte terrestre elle-même a-t-elle des capacités de réception d'information que nous ignorons" (105). He insists on the importance of perspective, adaptability, and the limitations of humans. However, the primary tension in his argument is the paradox of decentering, desacralizing, and de-hierarchizing the human while maintaining humans are different (and able to write and communicate the need for a sustainability plan, for instance). The primary strength and potential significance of this work is its comprehensive and critical analysis of humanity's current and past condition and relation to Nature. Juffé understands that for anything to motivate humans to change, certain fundamentals must be addressed, starting with, as he has set out to do in this book, "une description commune de la Nature et de ses diverses dynamiques" (176). With French ecocriticism on the rise and sustainability concerns spanning multiple, if not all, disciplinary modalities, sustainability research in French and Francophone studies is increasingly pertinent. Juffé's work will be important and influential to scholars desiring a nuanced philosophical foundation to the current human condition as well as ideas for how to pursue an "éthique pour une humanité durable" (176). Abbey Carrico Virginia Military Institute Copyright © 2019 American Association of Teachers of French