The Wakeful World: Animism, Mind and the Self in Nature Paperback – November 30, 2012

This is a wonderful book. The first part of it might be a bit of a slog -- it is very academic and works through the process of defining every word that Restall-Orr is about to use to describe this religious philosophy -- but once you get through that the value of it becomes clear. I've been reading this book concurrently with How Forests Think: Toward an Anthropology Beyond The Human by Eduardo Kohn, and these two books fit together perfectly. If I were teaching a course on Animism, these might well be the two main texts I would work through with my students.

This is not a religious book. Others have described it as an apologetics, but I don't agree: I think this is a work of philosophy, on the borders of personal identity, philosophy of mind and metaphysics. Its a logical and clearly thought argument for the intuition that the personal consciousness we all individually experience is not only *not* the only consciousness there is, but not even the only conversation-among-consciousnesses there is. If I were still teaching I'd use this alongside Thomas Nagel's "A View From Nowhere" for an undergrad course, because between Nagel's semi-phenomenological ability to get you to think critically about mind, and Restall Orr's explosion of some truly unintuitive and dogmatic assumptions underlying the dualism/monism distinctions in philosophy of mind, you'd have a good grounding in how to do philosophy and a good understanding of what the actual issues were in philosophy of mind.But I think Restall Orr doesn't just provide a solid criticism of the dualism/monism problems in philosophy of mind, she provides a solid analytical foundation for understanding why animism seems to some of us the more sensible and intuitive philosophy of mind. But more than that, she demonstrates that philosophical inquiry can be fun and can still dramatically expand the range of acceptable position.I should add: There's nothing wrong with apologetics or religion, and both can be as logically rigorous as you want. But there's a specific way of looking at the world if you're a philosopher, and this way of looking at the world is what Restall Orr accomplished for Animism.

Animism is widely considered to be a primitive perspective, long since superseded. Emma Restall Orr shows why that is not at all true. Dismissing simplistic definitions that she describes as having been "drawn in crayon," she unpacks the philosophical underpinnings of an animist worldview in painstaking detail. Don't expect a fast or easy read; she's working here with detailed philosophical argument and expects her readers to pay close attention. For the reader willing to do so, this is a rewarding read.

I loved this book! Don't get me wrong, it was not an easy read. I really had to work at it and plan to read it again since I feel that I only absorbed a fraction of it. This book confirmed for me many things that I've felt and experienced that I've never seen in print anywhere. This book fed my soul.

This book is a basic read for anyone who is concerned about our way of relating to the natural world. The Green movement needs to be anchored in animism.

This book is really important. Orr has done a big service of writing in detail the Western animist worldview and it with philosophical precedents or schools of thought that led to it. There's a good deal of philosophical history of ontology and history of words related to the subject, such as : soul, spirit, self, nature , consciousness. You need a clear mind to read it, and follow her path of reasoning.She points out well the problems of materialism, and the problem of linking the mind and matter.I think I need to return to this book again. If I understand, does it mean that I accept her view? Anyway, what is the most important conclusion , is that nature matters. and I'm looking forward to read her book about values of the animists: 'Living with Honor. Oh, in between there's beautiful descriptions of experiencing nature

In this mostly quite readable book Emma Restall Orr has traced an important and neglected vein of intellectual history in the West, while at the same time establishing the basis for what a theologian would call an animist apologetics. You will understand only after you have read the first half of the book why the writing in the last few chapters is necessarily more poetical. What you think of the ending will depend upon your tolerance for iambs in alternating lines of three and four feet.

It is to analytical.....which does not line up to what other people say that actually practise animism and love dogs and their connection with the vibration of all....