Graham Harman
Encyclopedia
Graham Harman is a professor at the American University in Cairo, Egypt. He is a contemporary philosopher of metaphysics, who attempts to reverse the linguistic turn
of Western philosophy. Harman is associated with Speculative Realism
in philosophy, which was the name of a workshop that also included the philosophers Ray Brassier
, Iain Hamilton Grant
, and Quentin Meillassoux
.
, Harman attended St. John's College
in Annapolis, Maryland
, receiving his B.A. in 1990. He then pursued graduate study under philosopher Alphonso Lingis
at Penn State University, receiving his M.A. in 1991. Transferring to DePaul University
in Chicago, he received his Ph. D. there in 1999. While in Chicago, he worked briefly as a sportswriter for sportsextra.com (now defunct). Since 2000, he has been a member of the Department of Philosophy at the American University in Cairo
.
ian tradition, his object-oriented approach considers the neglected real life of objects to be fertile ground for a resurgent metaphysics. Emphasizing the notions of substance and occasional cause (see occasionalism
), he affirms the autonomy of objects while aiming to 'allude' to their shadowy underground life and covert interactions by means of metaphor.
According to Harman, everything is an object, whether it be a mailbox, electromagnetic radiation
, curved spacetime
, the Commonwealth of Nations
, or a propositional attitude
. However, drawing on phenomenology, he does distinguish between two categories of objects: real objects and sensual objects (or intentional objects), which sets his philosophy apart from the flat ontology of Bruno Latour
. Expressing strong sympathy for panpsychism
, Harman proposes a new philosophical discipline called "speculative psychology" dedicated to investigating the "cosmic layers of psyche" and "ferreting out the specific psychic reality of earthworms, dust, armies, chalk, and stone" (Harman 2009: 213).
Cutting across the phenomenological tradition, and especially its linguistic turn
, Harman deploys a brand of metaphysical realism that attempts to extricate objects from their human captivity and metaphorically allude to a strange new subterranean world of objects.
He has written an article that draws a fresh parallel between the cognitive styles of horror writer H.P. Lovecraft and philosopher Edmund Husserl
.
Linguistic turn
The linguistic turn was a major development in Western philosophy during the 20th century, the most important characteristic of which is the focusing of philosophy and the other humanities primarily on the relationship between philosophy and language....
of Western philosophy. Harman is associated with Speculative Realism
Speculative realism
Speculative realism is an emerging movement in contemporary philosophy which defines itself loosely in its stance of metaphysical realism against the dominant forms of post-Kantian philosophy or what it terms correlationism. Speculative realism takes its name from a conference held at Goldsmiths...
in philosophy, which was the name of a workshop that also included the philosophers Ray Brassier
Ray Brassier
Ray Brassier is a member of the Philosophy faculty at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, known for his work in philosophical realism. He was formerly Research Fellow at the Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy at Middlesex University, London, England.He is the author of Nihil...
, Iain Hamilton Grant
Iain Hamilton Grant
Iain Hamilton Grant is a lecturer at the University of the West of England in Bristol, United Kingdom. His research interests include post-Kantian European philosophy, especially Philosophical Idealism, contemporary philosophy, the history and philosophy of science, the philosophy of technology,...
, and Quentin Meillassoux
Quentin Meillassoux
Quentin Meillassoux is a French philosopher. He teaches at the École Normale Supérieure, and is the son of the anthropologist Claude Meillassoux....
.
Biography
Born in Iowa City and raised in Mount Vernon, IowaMount Vernon, Iowa
Mount Vernon is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, adjacent to the city of Lisbon. The city's population was 3,390 when the 2000 census figures were released, but that number was later revised to 3,808 because the Census Bureau had incorrectly reported that 418 residents of a Cornell...
, Harman attended St. John's College
St. John's College, U.S.
St. John's College is a liberal arts college with two U.S. campuses: one in Annapolis, Maryland and one in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Founded in 1696 as a preparatory school, King William's School, the school received a collegiate charter in 1784, making it one of the oldest institutions of higher...
in Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
, receiving his B.A. in 1990. He then pursued graduate study under philosopher Alphonso Lingis
Alphonso Lingis
Alphonso Lingis is an American philosopher, writer and translator, currently Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Pennsylvania State University...
at Penn State University, receiving his M.A. in 1991. Transferring to DePaul University
DePaul University
DePaul University is a private institution of higher education and research in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul...
in Chicago, he received his Ph. D. there in 1999. While in Chicago, he worked briefly as a sportswriter for sportsextra.com (now defunct). Since 2000, he has been a member of the Department of Philosophy at the American University in Cairo
American University in Cairo
The American University in Cairo is an independent, non-profit, apolitical, secular institution of higher learning located in Cairo, Egypt...
.
Thought
Through an interpretation of the tool-analysis of Heidegger's Being and Time, Harman sets out to develop what he calls an object-oriented philosophy. Taking the tool-analysis as the defining moment in twentieth-century philosophy, Harman finds in Heidegger the roots of a metaphysics of things which does justice to the things themselves. Although working from within it, he finds the broad history of phenomenology to be deficient in that it constantly subordinates the independent life of objects to our (human) access to them. Against the KantKANT
KANT is a computer algebra system for mathematicians interested in algebraic number theory, performing sophisticated computations in algebraic number fields, in global function fields, and in local fields. KASH is the associated command line interface...
ian tradition, his object-oriented approach considers the neglected real life of objects to be fertile ground for a resurgent metaphysics. Emphasizing the notions of substance and occasional cause (see occasionalism
Occasionalism
Occasionalism is a philosophical theory about causation which says that created substances cannot be efficient causes of events. Instead, all events are taken to be caused directly by God...
), he affirms the autonomy of objects while aiming to 'allude' to their shadowy underground life and covert interactions by means of metaphor.
According to Harman, everything is an object, whether it be a mailbox, electromagnetic radiation
Electromagnetic radiation
Electromagnetic radiation is a form of energy that exhibits wave-like behavior as it travels through space...
, curved spacetime
Spacetime
In physics, spacetime is any mathematical model that combines space and time into a single continuum. Spacetime is usually interpreted with space as being three-dimensional and time playing the role of a fourth dimension that is of a different sort from the spatial dimensions...
, the Commonwealth of Nations
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
, or a propositional attitude
Propositional attitude
A propositional attitude is a relational mental state connecting a person to a proposition. They are often assumed to be the simplest components of thought and can express meanings or content that can be true or false...
. However, drawing on phenomenology, he does distinguish between two categories of objects: real objects and sensual objects (or intentional objects), which sets his philosophy apart from the flat ontology of Bruno Latour
Bruno Latour
Bruno Latour is a French sociologist of science and anthropologist and an influential theorist in the field of Science and Technology Studies...
. Expressing strong sympathy for panpsychism
Panpsychism
In philosophy, panpsychism is the view that all matter has a mental aspect, or, alternatively, all objects have a unified center of experience or point of view...
, Harman proposes a new philosophical discipline called "speculative psychology" dedicated to investigating the "cosmic layers of psyche" and "ferreting out the specific psychic reality of earthworms, dust, armies, chalk, and stone" (Harman 2009: 213).
Cutting across the phenomenological tradition, and especially its linguistic turn
Linguistic turn
The linguistic turn was a major development in Western philosophy during the 20th century, the most important characteristic of which is the focusing of philosophy and the other humanities primarily on the relationship between philosophy and language....
, Harman deploys a brand of metaphysical realism that attempts to extricate objects from their human captivity and metaphorically allude to a strange new subterranean world of objects.
He has written an article that draws a fresh parallel between the cognitive styles of horror writer H.P. Lovecraft and philosopher Edmund Husserl
Edmund Husserl
Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl was a philosopher and mathematician and the founder of the 20th century philosophical school of phenomenology. He broke with the positivist orientation of the science and philosophy of his day, yet he elaborated critiques of historicism and of psychologism in logic...
.
See also
- Speculative RealismSpeculative realismSpeculative realism is an emerging movement in contemporary philosophy which defines itself loosely in its stance of metaphysical realism against the dominant forms of post-Kantian philosophy or what it terms correlationism. Speculative realism takes its name from a conference held at Goldsmiths...
- Martin HeideggerMartin HeideggerMartin Heidegger was a German philosopher known for his existential and phenomenological explorations of the "question of Being."...
- Bruno LatourBruno LatourBruno Latour is a French sociologist of science and anthropologist and an influential theorist in the field of Science and Technology Studies...
- Linguistic TurnLinguistic turnThe linguistic turn was a major development in Western philosophy during the 20th century, the most important characteristic of which is the focusing of philosophy and the other humanities primarily on the relationship between philosophy and language....
- Alfred North WhiteheadAlfred North WhiteheadAlfred North Whitehead, OM FRS was an English mathematician who became a philosopher. He wrote on algebra, logic, foundations of mathematics, philosophy of science, physics, metaphysics, and education...
External links
- Home page
- Object-Oriented Philosophy
- numerous posts and links of Harman's talks, abstracts etc.
- Audio recordings of Harman's talks
- Frieze on Graham Harman
- Webpage for Collapse journal featuring contributions by Graham Harman and other "speculative realists"
- 16 unpublished articles
- Robert Nelson: Philosopher
- On the Horror of Phenomenology: Lovecraft and Husserl
- Meillassoux's Virtual Future