Animal being means desiring

subjectivity, singularity, diversity in post-human life

Roberto Marchesini

pp. 375-385

in: William S. Smith, Jadwiga Smith, Daniela Verducci (eds), Eco-Phenomenology, Berlin, Springer, 2018

Abstract

This paper will demonstrate that desire is the most immediate expression of subjectivity, which transcends need and somehow gives it meaning—I live because I desire, I live by expressing desires that overwhelm me and shape my existence. All of an animal's endowments only serve to express desires. Desire colors the world: it fills the eyes of a child with wonder; it supports the chaotic games of a puppy; it gives meaning to the events of the world. If desire disappears, life falls into a vegetative atemporality. If desire decreases, life fades.