Volume 21, Issue 1, Spring 2024
Julie Van der Wielen
Pages 61-89
https://doi.org/10.5840/envirophil202456139
Cybernetic or Machinic Ecology? Guattari¡¯s Parting Ways with Bateson
In this article, I examine the relation between Bateson and Guattari¡¯s ecological thoughts: two thinkers whose ecological ideas at first sight have a lot in common. In order to show the difference between the thoughts of both thinkers, I will take my clue from Guattari¡¯s remark that he parts ways with Bateson on the role of context. Explaining the role of context in both authors will allow me to show how Guattari¡¯s thought implies both an endorsement and a critique of cybernetics, and, specifically, promoting a machinic rather than cybernetic ecology. I will conclude by indicating what is at stake in this distinction.