Entropic Philosophy: Chaos, Breakdown, and Creation

by Shannon M. Mussett

Overview

Now is a time of tremendous anxiety about the present and future state of the world. As the second law of thermodynamics states, entropy never decreases, time marches relentlessly forward, and closed systems inevitably break down. Entropy serves as a powerful metaphor capturing expressions of growing malaise and decline.
Entropic Philosophy: Chaos, Breakdown, and Creation builds on the meaning of entropy from the Greek entropia, signifying “a turning toward” or “transformation.” Developing a philosophy of entropy, this book draws variously from anthropology, psychoanalysis, literature, art, and the history of philosophy. This approach opens pathways for reverence and care that are crucial in preventing fear, existential inertia, and despair.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781786612472
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	01/31/2022
Series:	Philosophical Projections
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	220
File size:	318 KB

About the Author

Shannon Mussett is Professor of Philosophy at Utah Valley University

Table of Contents

1.Acknowledgments
 
2.Preface
 
3.Introduction
 
4.Chapter One: Entropy in Science and Metaphor
 
5.Chapter Two: Entropy in Ancient Greek Thought
 
6.Chapter Three: Entropy in German Philosophies of Nature
 
7.Chapter Four: Leveling Modernity: Entropy in Freud and Lévi-Strauss
 
8.Chapter Five: Old Age and Entropic Decline
 
9.Chapter Six: Entropic Excess: Reconfiguring Matter and Waste
 
10.Chapter Seven: Destruction and the Joy of Creation
 
11.Conclusion
 
12.Bibliography
 
13.Author Bio

Editorial Reviews

Mussett's work is a striking display of erudition that provides a novel re-introduc­tion to and re-reading of the history of Western thought. It offers a profound and creative new approach to the exigency of our ethical responsibilities to one another and our world, inviting us to think how we might craft a new and more reverent way of being in the future. Profoundly important contribution to contemporary philosophy.

This beautiful book might be called Tristes Entropiques. Shannon Mussett explains how the conception of the law of entropy has disturbed our understanding of human endeavor. Instead of concluding that all is vanity, she finds bases for grace in Homer, Nietzsche, and Smithson.

From the Publisher

Mussett’s work is a striking display of erudition that provides a novel re-introduc­tion to and re-reading of the history of Western thought. It offers a profound and creative new approach to the exigency of our ethical responsibilities to one another and our world, inviting us to think how we might craft a new and more reverent way of being in the future. Profoundly important contribution to contemporary philosophy.

Continental Philosophy Review

This beautiful book might be called Tristes Entropiques. Shannon Mussett explains how the conception of the law of entropy has disturbed our understanding of human endeavor. Instead of concluding that all is vanity, she finds bases for grace in Homer, Nietzsche, and Smithson.

Andrew Cutrofello