1,827 research outputs found
Speculative Realism and Systems Metaphysics
Recent developments in Continental philosophy have included emergence of a school of âspeculative realismâ which rejects the human-centered orientation that has long dominated Continental thought, but also opposes naĂŻve realism or positivism. Proponents of speculative realism differ on several issues, but most agree on the need for an object-oriented ontology. Speculative realists who draw upon Marxist thought identify realism with materialism, while others accord equal reality to objects that are non-material, even fictional. Several thinkers retain a focus on difference, a well-established theme in Continental thought. This paper looks at speculative realism from the perspective of the metaphysics of systems theory. Many of the tenets of speculative realism have long been features of systems metaphysics and are expressed clearly in a systems framework
Stubborn Dark Objects of the Future
Brian Willems. Speculative Realism and Science Fiction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2017, pp. 223
Speculative Realism: Resources on an Emerging Discipline
Review of resources related to the "Speculative Realism" or "Object-Oriented Philosophy" movement that sprung up in the late 2000s
Skirmishes
"One of the fifty most influential living philosophers, a âself-promoting charlatanâ (Brian Leiter), and the orchestrator of an âonline orgy of stupidityâ (Ray Brassier). In Skirmishes: With Friends, Enemies, and Neutrals, Graham Harman responds with flair and wit to some of his best-known critics and fellow travelers. Pulling no punches, Harman gives a masterclass in philosophical argumentation by dissecting, analyzing, and countering their criticism, be it from the Husserlian, Heideggerian, or Derridean corner. At the same time, Skirmishes provides an excellent introduction to the hottest debates in Speculative Realism and Object-Oriented Ontology, a speculative style of philosophy long foreclosed by the biases of mainstream continental thought, but which has turned in recent years into one of the most encompassing philosophies of our time, with a major impact on the arts, humanities, and architecture.
Part One considers four prominent books on speculative realism. In dialogue with Tom Sparrowâs The End of Phenomenology, Harman expresses agreement with Sparrowâs critique while taking issue with Lee Braverâs âtransgressive realismâ as not realist enough. Turning to Steven Shaviroâs The Universe of Things, Harman defends his own object-oriented model against Shaviroâs brand of process philosophy, while also engaging in side-debate with Levi R. Bryantâs distinction between virtual proper being and local manifestations. In the third chapter, on Peter Grattonâs Speculative Realism: Problems and Prospects, Harman opposes the authorâs attempt to use Derridean notions of time and difference against Speculative Realism, in what amounts to his most extensive engagement with Derrida to date. Chapter Four gives us Harmanâs response to Peter Wolfendaleâs massive polemic in Object-Oriented Philosophy, which he shows is based on a failed criticism of Harmanâs reading of Heidegger and a grumpy commitment to rationalist kitsch.
Part Two responds to a series of briefer criticisms of object-oriented ontology. When Alberto Toscano accuses Harman and Bruno Latour of âneo-monadologicalâ and anti-scientific thinking, Harman responds that the philosophical factors pushing Leibniz into monadology are still valid today. When Christopher Norris mocks Harman for seeing merit in the occasionalist school, he shows why Norrisâs middle-of-the-road scientific realism misses the point. In response to Dan Zahaviâs contention that phenomenology has little to learn from speculative realism, Harman exposes the holes in Zahaviâs reasoning. In a final response, Harman gives a point-by-point answer to Stephen Mulhallâs critical foray in the London Review of Books. Amidst these lively debates, Harman sheds new light on what he regards as the central bias of philosophical modernism, which he terms the taxonomical standpoint. It is a book sure to provoke lively controversy among both friends and foes of object-oriented thought.
Close encounters of a critical kind: a diffractive musing in/between new material feminism and object-oriented ontology
For a number of years, new material feminists have been developing new theoretical tools, new modes of conceptual analysis and new ethical frameworks. Object-oriented ontology, part of the speculative realism âmovementâ, has been engaged in something similar. Yet these endeavours have often taken place in âparallel universesâ, despite sharing â or at least colliding around â a range of somewhat similar ontological and epistemological commitments. Composed as a diffractive musing encounter in which insights are read âthrough one anotherâ (Barad, 2007: 25) in order to âattend to ⌠details and specificities of relations of difference and how they matterâ (Barad, 2007:71), the article brings Baradâs Meeting the Universe Halfway, already a âfoundationalâ text for new material feminism, into an encounter with a speculative realist text of the same âfoundationalâ status, Harmanâs The Quadruple Object. The article develops a notion of diffractive musing as embodied, sensory struggle which instantiates intellectual generosity as a mode of critique. Following this, it puts diffractive musing to work theoretically via an encounter between object-oriented ontology and new material feminism.
Keywords : new material feminism, speculative realism, diffraction, musing, critiqu
The Future of Speculation?
The emergence of a philosophical movement amidst the precarious situation of 'continental philosophy' is today notable. Whilst welcoming a turn to speculation, and to questions of totality, this article will contend that speculative realism has misplaced the concept of speculation. Its naturalistic sense of totality and of realism prevents it from relating ânecessary contingency' to any (future-oriented) task. What, then, is the future of speculative realism? I will examine the extent to which the phenomenon may prompt historical materialism to examine its speculative standpoint, amidst the ongoing problem historical totalisation.My case study is Iain Hamilton Grant's Philosophies of Nature After Schelling (2006), for the reason that it allows for a clear comparison between âSchellingian naturephilosophy' and its competing, Hegelian alternative. Hegel's speculative philosophy of history faces a set of problems of its own. In contrast to Grant's reading of Schelling, an examination of the relationship between Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit and the middle Schelling can address some of these problems. An alternative future to research on speculation will be outlined
Skirmishes
"One of the fifty most influential living philosophers, a âself-promoting charlatanâ (Brian Leiter), and the orchestrator of an âonline orgy of stupidityâ (Ray Brassier). In Skirmishes: With Friends, Enemies, and Neutrals, Graham Harman responds with flair and wit to some of his best-known critics and fellow travelers. Pulling no punches, Harman gives a masterclass in philosophical argumentation by dissecting, analyzing, and countering their criticism, be it from the Husserlian, Heideggerian, or Derridean corner. At the same time, Skirmishes provides an excellent introduction to the hottest debates in Speculative Realism and Object-Oriented Ontology, a speculative style of philosophy long foreclosed by the biases of mainstream continental thought, but which has turned in recent years into one of the most encompassing philosophies of our time, with a major impact on the arts, humanities, and architecture.
Part One considers four prominent books on speculative realism. In dialogue with Tom Sparrowâs The End of Phenomenology, Harman expresses agreement with Sparrowâs critique while taking issue with Lee Braverâs âtransgressive realismâ as not realist enough. Turning to Steven Shaviroâs The Universe of Things, Harman defends his own object-oriented model against Shaviroâs brand of process philosophy, while also engaging in side-debate with Levi R. Bryantâs distinction between virtual proper being and local manifestations. In the third chapter, on Peter Grattonâs Speculative Realism: Problems and Prospects, Harman opposes the authorâs attempt to use Derridean notions of time and difference against Speculative Realism, in what amounts to his most extensive engagement with Derrida to date. Chapter Four gives us Harmanâs response to Peter Wolfendaleâs massive polemic in Object-Oriented Philosophy, which he shows is based on a failed criticism of Harmanâs reading of Heidegger and a grumpy commitment to rationalist kitsch.
Part Two responds to a series of briefer criticisms of object-oriented ontology. When Alberto Toscano accuses Harman and Bruno Latour of âneo-monadologicalâ and anti-scientific thinking, Harman responds that the philosophical factors pushing Leibniz into monadology are still valid today. When Christopher Norris mocks Harman for seeing merit in the occasionalist school, he shows why Norrisâs middle-of-the-road scientific realism misses the point. In response to Dan Zahaviâs contention that phenomenology has little to learn from speculative realism, Harman exposes the holes in Zahaviâs reasoning. In a final response, Harman gives a point-by-point answer to Stephen Mulhallâs critical foray in the London Review of Books. Amidst these lively debates, Harman sheds new light on what he regards as the central bias of philosophical modernism, which he terms the taxonomical standpoint. It is a book sure to provoke lively controversy among both friends and foes of object-oriented thought.
Memory, History, and Pluripotency: A Realist View of Literary Studies
Speculative realism has, over the course of its rapid and controversial emergence in the past decade, been frequently criticized from the perspective of historical materialism, for its putative reliance on abstraction and eschewal of a sufficiently rigorous ideological alignment. This paper takes such critiques as a starting point for an examination of the contributions recent thought in the area of speculative realism has to offer the study of the humanities â specifically, the study of literature and literary history. In particular, contemporary realist thought has the potential to enable scholars of literature to move beyond the anthropocentric and specialized notions of history as an exclusively cultural entity, which have dominated the discipline since the twentieth century. Paying especially close attention to the work of Graham Harman and Manuel DeLanda, it is my argument that emergent realist philosophy offers literary scholars a set of powerful conceptual tools which can be put toward the work of accounting for the hitherto neglected ontological status of the literary text â illuminating the status of the text as a particular variety of real and physical object that participates in a system of real and physical history and memory
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