Living Off Landscape: Or the Unthought-of in Reason

Francois Jullien's rich exploration of what he calls "landscape thought" raises awareness of the cultural conditioning that obscures understanding and renders new thought impossible. Through his focus on environmental aesthetics in China and Europe he provides us with a philosophical method for productive possibilities of global engagement at all levels. This is a comparatist scholarship for a globally articulated time. -- Pradeep Dhillon, Associate Professor of Linguistics at the University of Illinois Although the appearance of any book by Jullien merits celebration, this work is especially precious. Retrieving the Chinese tradition of shan shui ( ) or mountain(s) and river(s) "landscape" painting, which deploys the polar vitality of emptiness and form, he challenges the European landscape tradition and exposes "connivance" as another way of living with the " spirit" of the singular "milieu" of a place. What could be more important in our age of ecological crisis and "impending uniformity"? -- Jason Wirth, Professor of Philosophy, Seattle University While the author is highly critical of traditional European approaches, the insights offered by this enchanting work will help readers rediscover the meaning and value of landscape and break away from customary perception by allowing them to wander through nature as depicted by classical Chinese poets and painters, while at the same time inspiring them to find new approaches to solving issues in contemporary urban design, and sustainable environmental development. -- Xiaoyan Hu, PhD candidate in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Liverpool With immense intelligence and reflexivity, Francois Jullien does the seemingly impossible: peeling off layer by layer the opaque cultural sediments that pre-condition our landscape-thought even when we struggle to escape from them. Living Off Landscape is a thought thriller; it demonstrates yet again that no one comes close to Jullien in terms of insights and relevance of cross-cultural thinking. Jullien shows us the form of the twenty-first century mind. -- Shiqiao Li, Weedon Professor in Asian Architecture at the University of Virginia