Paolo Furia is quite a voyager. From the Alps to the Andes, from Western philosophy to Andean philosophy he is a relentless explorer and a deep thinker that aims at expanding the horizons of our understanding of landscapes amid a worldwide climate crisis that is transforming them for good. Because of this, the urgency to pay attention to a philosophy grounded on experience, belonging, and mutual recognition and nurturing, not only among humans but also with non-humans, is pressing. There are lessons to learn from intellectual traditions like the Andean, and the author is decided to contribute to a truly horizontal and dialogic relationship between the West and the Rest.
Furia locates landscapes within a geographical constellation formed by space, place, environment, nature, and territory. In his view, an Andean landscape-oriented philosophy can transform that geographical constellation and provide new grounds of reflection to Western philosophy, prone to delve into issues like Being and Time but less aware of the impact of geography on our understanding of the human experience. This is why he attempts to plant “the seeds of the Andean landscape” in the “rich soil of ideas and possibilities inherent in the history of Western philosophy”. His goal is to achieve “a new, transcultural sensibility and conceptualization of the landscape” (p. 9).
In this endeavor, Furia is keenly aware of the millenarian (re)signification of Andean landscapes. In fact, landscaping, as a means of culturally embedding and experiencing the Andean space, is part of a long process of adaptation to the amazing geography of these tropical mountains. Since the Sixteenth Century, this endogenous process has been abruptly transformed, subordinating it to the demands of North Atlantic geopolitical and economic powers.
Today, any geographical, anthropological or philosophical exploration of Andean landscapes has to grapple with their multilayered constitution accomplished all the way from pre-Columbian times, to colonial times and to current postcolonial configurations, interpretations, and experimentations. Beyond etic or scientific readings, what is important to understand is that the emic meanings of all these processes of landscaping are embedded in signs, marks, and features that become understandable only if the observer is able to make sense of their role in the overlapping (re)configurations of a given territory. Contemporary Andean people, for example, make sense of their landscapes through performative acts like rituals, practices and habits that use landmarks as sites of intense connection with their spirituality and cosmovision.
Methodologically, Furia champions a philosophy deeply rooted in phenomenology and hermeneutics. He underscores the irreplaceable role of lived
Furia explores concepts such as Pacha—the dynamic unity of space and time—and Ayllu—the extended community encompassing humans, non-humans, and the land itself—to articulate a framework where beings are interconnected through relations of care and reciprocity. At the same time, he argues against a commonplace about the Andean understanding of the relationship between human and the rest of nature: “the Andean world does not advocate the negation of the human but rather its rethinking; human agency is welcomed, justified, and promoted as long as it remains attentive and respectful of the agency of the elements, animals, and plants with which humans coexist” (p. 122).
A significant part of Furia’s analysis delves into the complex role of the image in mediating our geographical experience. He contrasts the often superficial, commodified images prevalent in tourism and social media—epitomised by the quest for the “instagrammable”—with the Andean understanding where the landscape itself is a substantive image, an inherent expression of the Pacha. This perspective challenges Western notions of representation, suggesting that the landscape’s appearance is not merely subjective interpretation but an ontological self-presentation that calls for a deeper, more engaged form of seeing.
Furthermore, the book critically examines the dialectic between implacement and displacement in shaping human experience. Resisting the modern tendency to prioritise either settled identity (place-based community) or rootless mobility (global society), Furia argues that both belonging and movement, feeling-at-home and encountering otherness, are fundamental human conditions. The Andean cosmovision, with its dynamic understanding of Pacha and myths of wandering creators like Viracocha, offers a perspective where stability and contingency coexist, suggesting an ontology of hospitality rather than fixed belonging.
This leads Furia to engage with Andean concepts of distributed agency, touching upon the animating principle of Camac and situating Andean thought within broader anthropological discussions of animism and analogism. By exploring how Andean philosophy perceives non-human entities—mountains
The philosophical journey culminates in hinting at a renewed “aesthetic Enlightenment”, moving beyond the limitations of both detached Kantian reason and purely subjective Romantic feeling. Furia gestures towards an understanding of “testimonial beauty”—a beauty that arises not from abstract principles or fleeting tastes, but from the perceived health and harmonious reciprocity within a landscape. This beauty bears witness to a successful relationship between humans, non-humans, and the Earth, suggesting an ethical and ecological grounding for aesthetics relevant to our current planetary challenges.
Ultimately, Beyond The Postcolonial Gaze proposes more than just an alternative view of landscape; it calls for a reform of the Western geographical constellation itself. By bringing Andean philosophy into dialogue with Western thinking and by challenging the subjectivism inherent in much modern thought, Furia seeks to foster a—very much needed—renewed intercultural understanding.