El viaje solitario. La filosofía y la búsqueda de la naturaleza perdida

This essay discusses philosophers, travellers, adventurers, conquerors and sailors. What they all have in common is that, in different ways, they represent the universal motif of the search for lost nature. At various points in history, human beings have sensed that their connection with nature has been broken and that this break is a source of anguish and unease for them. Civilisation has taken up so much space, culture has imposed itself so much on our lives, that it has ceased to be an exclusive instrument of emancipation and has become yet another form of alienation. Hence, on many occasions, humans have felt compelled to take on the task of rebuilding the broken link with their natural past. Travel is the concrete manifestation of this longing, the imperfect realisation of the dream of returning to lost nature. In a sense, this book is a reflection on travel in its various forms: as mountain climbing, as ambush, as navigation, as mystical pilgrimage... In its pages, the essayistic style is combined with autobiography and literature, thus bringing philosophy closer to a wide audience, taking it into the realm of nature and travel, and combining its perennial concerns with the great shortcomings of our time. ‘Alejandro Martín proposes a journey: one that goes from landscape to nature; which is the adventurous journey of philosophy.’ (Gregorio Luri).