Event overview
*Please note that this event is now full and we are unable to accept any more bookings*
Discovering Objects Is More Important Than Eliminating Them
Lecture by Graham Harman / Response by Susan Schuppli
20 January 2012 – 10:30am – 1:00pm / Goldsmiths, RHB 312
In the morning session we will try and situate the project of Speculative Realism, which was, in part, impelled by an important workshop held here at Goldsmiths on April 27, 2007 with presentations by Ray Brassier, Iain Hamilton Grant, Graham Harman, and Quentin Meillassoux. Rather than announcing the advent of a new theoretical ‘doctrine’ or ‘school’, the Speculative Realism event conjoined four ambitious philosophical projects – all of which boldly problematise the subjectivistic and anthropocentric foundations of much of Continental Philosophy while differing significantly in their respective strategies for superseding them. It is precisely this uniqueness of each participant that allowed a fruitful discussion to emerge. Alongside the articulation of various challenges to certain idealistic premises, a determination of the obstacles that any contemporary realism must surmount was equally in effect. Accordingly, some of the key issues under scrutiny included the status of science and epistemology in contemporary philosophy, the ontological constitution of thought, and the nature of subject-independent objects. ‘Speculative Realism’, then, forces contemporary philosophy to make a decision, but it is not so much one concerning idealism or realism. Rather, at stake here is the possibility of a future for audacious and original philosophical thought as a discourse on reality itself.
Related Readings:
1) Graham Harman, The Road to Objects [unpublished work]
http://roundtable.kein.org/node/1263
2) Graham Harman, Networks and Assemblages: The Rebirth of Things in Latour and DeLanda [paper presented at Goldsmiths in 2007] – http://roundtable.kein.org/node/1262
3) Speculative Realism – http://roundtable.kein.org/node/1265
Is the Speculative Political Future of Egypt also a Philosophical Project?
Reflections by Graham Harman / Response by Godofredo Pereira
20 January 2012 – 2:00 pm – 5:00pm / Goldsmiths, RHB 312
This session continues the discussion of the morning and will deal with some of the political implications of the philosophy of Speculative Realism as it might pertain to the changing realities of Egypt today. How does its more globalised project intervene to engage directly with experiences in contemporary Egypt happening in the streets, online, and captured by mobile technologies? Can philosophy play a role beyond engaging with the hermeneutics of the written word whether expressed as criticism or commentary, in such rapidly changing and activist contexts? Moreover does the philosophy of Speculative Realism have a future in a project in which politics alongside its religious alliances, seems to be the determinant factor in producing the new reality of Egypt — a kind of totalizing or universalist discourse that Speculative Realism would itself naturally be resistant to?
Philosopher Graham Harman is Professor at the American University in Cairo and the author of numerous books and texts (several of which will be references in this day-long session). During the seminar, Harman will trace out the contours of an object-oriented philosophy and imagine how our world might look like “once the human subject in all its blatant and camouflaged forms exhausts the few remaining permutations and finally loses its status as Emperor of Philosophy.”
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Jan 2012 | 10:30am - 5:00pm |
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