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In Book XVIII of Esprit des Lois, Montesquieu explained how men, “by dint of their care and their rules, have made the earth fitter for their habitation”. Not only did Montesquieu characterize relations to the environment in such a way that we only need its complete reversal for us to understand the present-day situation, in which yesterday’s good things have become today’s misdeeds; but in both cases, if one wishes to understand what inhabiting the earth means, it is important to study, as Montesquieu did, the way human actions and natural processes mutually interact. One may thus grasp how inhabiting, far from any attempt at technical control and mastery, is never about just “making”. It necessitates “care” and “good rules”. A political ecology, to some extent.