Raphaël Larrère

Technology and Nature

It is generally taken as obvious that artificial objects are fabricated, and that the technical process of producing artificial entities is a fabrication. The paradigm of fabrication may serve as a reference for a whole series of technical activities: the production of objects and tools, the construction of buildings, of infrastructures, the synthesis of substances which do not exist in nature. It is the art of making; it applies equally to the art of the craftsman (unique creations) and to industrial fabrication (the serial production of a number of identical objects).

Des paysages forestiers

When there is discussion on the comparative merits of different forest landscapes, when one hears assessments of the way they are handled or the state that the spontaneous development of stands with a high degree of naturality tends towards, it is commonplace to consider these matters solely from the ecological angle. But the protagonists of these potential controversies would be well-advised to go beyond these exclusive scientific arguments. We have attempted to show that it would be useful for them to also examine the philosophical assumptions on which they rely in considering these issues and to accept a comparison of their aesthetic preferences. This article therefore examines forest landscapes both in the ecological sense of the terms as well as their sensory dimension.