A BODY IN THE FORM OF A PLANET: GAIA & PHILOSOPHY, PRESENTED WITH IGNOTA

Gaia theory, developed by Lynn Margulis and James Lovelock, describes a living Earth – a body in the form of a planet: a self-regulating complex system in which life interacts with and eventually becomes its own environment. In this discussion, Susanna Davies-Crook, Lyra Pramuk and Sarah Shin draw inspiration from Ignota’s recent publication Gaia and Philosophy by Lynn Margulis and Dorion Sagan to explore the influence of interdisciplinary biologist Margulis’ life and work. How can Gaian ideas guide contemporary approaches to understanding relationships between various species and planetary bodies? How might the concept of a world-skin – formed in part of the cell structures Margulis studied – imaginatively extend the Gaian paradigm? This discussion will be followed by a meditative and journeying event on Saturday.