Immaterialism: Objects and Social Theory
3/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
What objects exist in the social world and how should we understand them? Is a specific Pizza Hut restaurant as real as the employees, tables, napkins and pizzas of which it is composed, and as real as the Pizza Hut corporation with its headquarters in Wichita, the United States, the planet Earth and the social and economic impact of the restaurant on the lives of its employees and customers?
In this book the founder of object-oriented philosophy develops his approach in order to shed light on the nature and status of objects in social life. While it is often assumed that an interest in objects amounts to a form of materialism, Harman rejects this view and develops instead an “immaterialist” method. By examining the work of leading contemporary thinkers such as Bruno Latour and Levi Bryant, he develops a forceful critique of ‘actor-network theory’. In an extended discussion of Leibniz’s famous example of the Dutch East India Company, Harman argues that this company qualifies for objecthood neither through ‘what it is’ or ‘what it does’, but through its irreducibility to either of these forms. The phases of its life, argues Harman, are not demarcated primarily by dramatic incidents but by moments of symbiosis, a term he draws from the biologist Lynn Margulis.
This book provides a key counterpoint to the now ubiquitous social theories of constant change, holistic networks, performative identities, and the construction of things by human practice. It will appeal to anyone interested in cutting-edge debates in philosophy and social and cultural theory.
Graham Harman
Graham Harman is Distinguished University Professor at the American University in Cairo, Egypt. He is the author of Bruno Latour: Reassembling the Political (Pluto, 2014), Tool-Being: Heidegger and the Metaphysics of Objects (Open Court, 2002) and Prince of Networks: Bruno Latour and Metaphysics (re.Press, 2009).
Read more from Graham Harman
Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tool-Being: Heidegger and the Metaphysics of Objects Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Graham Harman Reader: Including Collected Works and Previously Unpublished Essays Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTowards Speculative Realism: Essays & Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Guerrilla Metaphysics: Phenomenology and the Carpentry of Things Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Bruno Latour: Reassembling the Political Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Circus Philosophicus Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Prince and the Wolf: Latour and Harman at the LSE: The Latour and Harman at the LSE Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Geospaces: Continuities Between Humans, Spaces, and the Earth Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBells and Whistles: More Speculative Realism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Immaterialism
Related ebooks
The Practice of Misuse: Rugged Consumerism in Contemporary American Culture Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDysfunction and Decentralization in New Media Art and Education Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Illustrated Edition): With linked Table of Contents Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Zarathustra Stone: Friedrich Nietzsche in Sils-Maria Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBuilding Blocks: A Cultural History of Codes, Compositions and Dispositions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOn the Significance of Science and Art Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsQueer Thing, Painting - Forty Years in the World of Art Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJapanese Fairy World - Stories From The Wonder-Lore Of Japan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsScience Fiction and the Mass Cultural Genre System Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLandscape and the Science Fiction Imaginary Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Young, the Restless, and the Dead: Interviews with Canadian Filmmakers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCinemachines: An Essay on Media and Method Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhere the Beast is Buried Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Creativity Complex: A Companion to Contemporary Culture Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKONSULT: Theopraxesis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAround the World in Eighty Days Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Time and the Gods Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Truth-Spots: How Places Make People Believe Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrom Méliès to New Media: Spectral Projections Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSummary of Robert Macfarlane's Underland Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUntruth: Exploring truth in a post-truth world Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlack Holes: Why Do They Spin Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Off-Screen: An Investigation of the Cinematic Frame Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMorality In Fragments Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLiterature, Ethics, Morality: American Studies Perspectives Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLittle Orange and the Engines of Creation Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Vermeer's Daughter Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The FIAF Moving Image Cataloguing Manual Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Limits of Knowledge Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Daily Show and Philosophy: Moments of Zen in the Art of Fake News Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Philosophy For You
The Little Book of Stoicism: Timeless Wisdom to Gain Resilience, Confidence, and Calmness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Questions for Deep Thinkers: 200+ of the Most Challenging Questions You (Probably) Never Thought to Ask Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Buddha's Guide to Gratitude: The Life-changing Power of Everyday Mindfulness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tao Te Ching: Six Translations Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Complete Papyrus of Ani Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Inward Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Courage to Be Happy: Discover the Power of Positive Psychology and Choose Happiness Every Day Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Course in Miracles: Text, Workbook for Students, Manual for Teachers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bhagavad Gita (in English): The Authentic English Translation for Accurate and Unbiased Understanding Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beyond Good and Evil Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Meditations: Complete and Unabridged Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of Loving Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Experiencing God (2021 Edition): Knowing and Doing the Will of God Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5History of Western Philosophy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tao Te Ching: A New English Version Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Bhagavad Gita Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Letters from a Stoic: All Three Volumes Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Republic by Plato Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Allegory of the Cave Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The City of God Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lessons of History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar...: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond Good and Evil Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The School of Life: An Emotional Education: An Emotional Education Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Immaterialism
3 ratings0 reviews