Speculative Earth

What sorts of philosophical ideas, images and histories lie coiled in the prefix ‘geo’? José Luis Romanillos turns to the archive of Greek philosophy, geography and religion to show how existential concern with the environment is not simply a modern preoccupation but a geographical theme of the longue durée.

Romanillos proposes a new kind of geophilosophy, one orientated towards understanding the ideas, beliefs and material practices that shaped ancient understandings of the earth. Engaging with a range of philosophical resources, from Hegel and Deleuze to Bataille and Sloterdijk, he explores the conceptual history of the prefix and develops a materialist reading of the physiological registers of earth in Greek thought.