English
This article (original English translated to French by Ph. Chanial) discusses Philippe Descola’s latest book in the light of his original contribution to the eternal debate between universalism and relativism. How can we do justice to science while respecting the legitimacy of non-Western points of view on the rapports between nature and culture ? Descola’s answer is interesting, as he suggests there is not one but at least two Western points of view on this question. In our everyday and spontaneous perception of Nature, as common men and women, do we not also reason in the same way as men and women of other, non scientific cultures ?