Levels of Organic Life and the Human - (Forms of Living) by Helmuth Plessner (Paperback)

About the Book

A modern classic, this powerful and sophisticated account of embodiment was first published in German in 1928 and now appears in English for the first time. With reference simultaneously to science, social theory, and philosophy, Plessner shows how life can be seen on its own terms to establish its own boundaries. Plessner's account of how the human establishes itself in relation to the nonhuman will invigorate a range of current conversations around the animal, posthumanism, the material turn, and the biology and sociology of cognition.

Book Synopsis

A modern classic, this powerful and sophisticated account of embodiment was first published in German in 1928 and now appears in English for the first time. With reference simultaneously to science, social theory, and philosophy, Plessner shows how life can be seen on its own terms to establish its own boundaries. Plessner's account of how the human establishes itself in relation to the nonhuman will invigorate a range of current conversations around the animal, posthumanism, the material turn, and the biology and sociology of cognition.

From the Back Cover

"This twentieth-century work was a pioneering effort to articulate an alternative to mechanistic-reductive accounts of life, and especially human life. Neglected for too long, it is now available to a wider audience in a new climate, where it will have its full impact."--Charles Taylor, Author of A Secular Age

"Outfitted with J. M. Bernstein's orienting Introduction, this book matters not merely for historical reasons, but also because contemporary thought is returning to its premises."--Samuel Moyn, Yale University

"Among twentieth century philosophers Helmuth Plessner stands apart, anticipating key ideas in theoretical biology and cognitive science. His unfairly neglected major work is now available in this fine translation. What a welcome moment for twenty-first century philosophy."--Evan Thompson, author of Waking, Dreaming, Being

"The Levels is Plessner's masterwork. . . . Its new paradigm should be regarded as belonging to the forward edge of contemporary philosophical thought."--J. M. Bernstein, from the Introduction

Now available in English, this key work by a titan of modern thought draws on phenomenological, biological, and social scientific sources in a highly original systematic account of nature, life, and human existence. On Plessner's unique account, living things articulate complex boundary dynamics between their insides and surrounding world, thereby establishing a characteristic "positionality" within an environment. The approach underwrites not only philosophical biology but philosophical anthropology as well, since the "excentric positionality" of humans, by which we take a stand outside our own bodies, holds significant implications for knowledge, culture, religion, and technology.

Initially obscured by the superficially similar views of Max Scheler and Martin Heidegger and by his forced exile during World War II, Plessner's vision has, in recent decades, once again become appreciated, as scholarship has moved more squarely into engagement with animality, human dignity, social theory, and the philosophy of technology and nature.

A powerful and sophisticated account of embodiment, the Levels is not merely a historical monument, but contributes to a range of vital current conversations around the posthumanism, the material turn, and the biology and sociology of cognition. A modern philosophical classic, the Levels helps us undertake philosophy and social theory together with science, without reducing the former to the latter.

Helmuth Plessner (1892-1985) was a German philosopher and sociologist. His Political Anthropology has recently appeared in English.

Review Quotes

Among twentieth century philosophers Helmuth Plessner stands apart. No one else gives us a philosophical biology bridged to a philosophical anthropology. Living beings are 'boundary-realizing bodies' that sustain their boundary by taking a 'position' toward their environment. Human positionality is 'excentric'--it takes a position on its own positionality--and 'naturally artificial'--always mediated by tools. Plessner anticipates but often goes further than Hans Jonas, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Gilbert Simondon. He anticipates key ideas in theoretical biology and cognitive science. His early and unfairly neglected major work is now available in this fine translation. What a welcome moment for twenty-first century philosophy.---Evan Thompson, author of Mind in Life and Waking, Dreaming, Being

Helmuth Plessner helped found a school of philosophical inquiry that, unbeknownst to English-language readers, loomed large in the middle decades of the twentieth century. Outfitted with J. M. Bernstein's orienting Introduction, this book matters not merely for historical reasons, but also because some contemporary thought is returning to its premises.---Samuel Moyn, Yale University

Plessner's new philosophical paradigm aims to challenge both reductive materialism and the panicky metaphysics of anti-naturalism in all its forms, . . . project[ing] the necessity and unavoidability of pluralism among the natural and human sciences. . . . We are, Plessner argues, naturally artificial beings, beings who can biologically live only through leading a culturally saturated, norm-governed life. The Levels is Plessner's masterwork, and it is patently the premier work of European philosophical anthropology; more importantly, its new paradigm should be regarded as belonging to the forward edge of contemporary philosophical thought.---J. M. Bernstein, from the Introduction

This twentieth-century work was a pioneering effort to articulate an alternative to the mechanistic-reductive accounts of life, and especially human life, that have dominated the mainstream of modern scientific culture. Neglected for too long, it is now available to a wider audience in a new climate, where it will have its full impact.---Charles Taylor, author of A Secular Age

Levels of Organic Life, in addition to offering both of Plessner's prefaces (1928 and 1965), has a translator's preface, helpful and interesting in its own right, and a substantive introduction by J. M. Bernstein that explicates, contextualizes, and argues for the continued necessity of Plessner's project.-- "Germanic Review"

This book's foremost asset is its rich account of the philosophy of life and the various structures that correspond to the "levels" of organic life. It is a major work in the history of the philosophy of life... its lively engagement with major philosophers of early 20th-century German thought provides a wonderful snapshot of the intellectual atmosphere of the time and the influence of Husserl, Heidegger, Scheler, and many others during their own lifetimes.-- "Phenomenological Reviews"

About the Author

Helmuth Plessner (Author)
Helmuth Plessner (1892-1985) was a German philosopher and sociologist. From 1953-59, he was president of the German Sociological Association. Three of his many books have appeared in English, Political Anthropology (Northwestern, 2018), The Limits of Community (Humanity Books, 1999) and Laughing and Crying (Northwestern, 1970).

J. M. Bernstein (Introducer)
J. M. Bernstein is University Distinguished Professor in Philosophy at The New School for Social Research in New York City.

Millay Hyatt (Translator)
Millay Hyatt is a writer and translator based in Berlin. Her dissertation, "No-Where and Now-Here: Utopia and Politics from Hegel to Deleuze," received the University of Southern California's doctoral research prize.