Getting Back into Place

What would the world be like if there were no places? Our lives are so place-oriented that we cannot begin to comprehend sheer placelessness. Indeed, the place we occupy has much to do with what and who we are. Yet, despite the pervasiveness of place in our everyday lives, philosophers have neglected it. Getting Back into Place offers a comprehensive and nuanced account of the role of place in human experience. Edward S. Casey first points to placeOtilde;s indispensability in navigation and orientation. The role of the lived body in matters of place is considered, and the characteristics of built places are explored. Cultivation of place is illuminated by a detailed analysis of gardens and parks. A scrutiny of wild places illustrates what is peculiar to places that resist the impingement of human presence. The contemporary, seminomadic experience of being between places is investigated through a sustained inquiry into the nature of journeys. Finally, the elusive meaning of home-places and of homecoming and homesteading is delineated. This rich intervention in the current discourse among scholars in the humanities and social sciences asserts the pervasiveness of place in constructing culture and identity.