Mirjam Rasch’s engaging philosophical essay takes as its inception bell hooks’s question ‘Who is talking? Who is listening? And why?’ and dissects the act of listening, layer by layer, complication by complication. With a lightness of touch, she takes the reader through concepts such as deep listening, active listening, performative listening and receptive generosity, drawing on the work of philosophers, writers, filmmakers, composers and anthropologists along the way.
First, Rasch delves into our technological experience where, according to Byung-Chul Han, we are invited to ‘produce’ ourselves, while technology listens in. Social media has monetarised opinion and real-time reflection on breaking news, leading to a constant state of fragmented attention. Next, two major challenges of our time play a leading role in the book: polarisation and climate change. Polarisation, and what you can do about it, drives chapters on dialogue and bearing witness. Finally, Rasch explores listening to the non-human (animals, plants, rivers, stones) as an alternative to domination. Paying attention to your unconscious desires and drives can bring you back into balance with the world around you.
This up-and-coming philosopher explores the ethics of listening with a generous, undogmatic approach. She advocates radical openness, person-to-person listening as a boundless and unconditional act.
