There are plenty of reasons to lament, as Marjolein Oele, who was appointed professor of Philosophy of the Humanities almost two years ago, also knows. For this move, she gave up her job at the University of San Francisco, and her home in the nearby town of San Anselmo. Her new book Beyond Elemental Loss opens with a poignant passage about her family's flight due to a raging inferno and the associated disruptions - for example, school closures and power cuts. After staying with friends in San Francisco, she was able to return safely to her home. “Although my home was spared, I had lost my trust in the elements and in our relationship with them. I began to realise that loss of a home extended far beyond worries about your own house.”
The seed for her book had been sown. With the help of numerous classical and modern philosophers as well as myths, indigenous ways of thinking and anthropological and ecological research, Oele set out to reflect on the elements and to redefine the concept of ‘trust’. Unlike hope, which focuses on a near future and an often empty promise, trust is rooted in interconnectedness and in a past, inviting us to reflect on how previously wounded trust has been restored. “Trust can go very deep, never just disappears, and you need to take your time to restore and rediscover it. And then you can find a handle that facilitates a different future, a different way of relating to each other and to our environment.”
