Harman is one of a small school of contemporary philosophers (including Meillassoux and Ferraris) who are both continentals (in Harman's case in style only as he is an American) and broadly consider themselves "realists", something out of fashion in continental philosophy since Kant. But despite this loose grouping into a "new realist" school, all three of these philosophers are very different. Harman calls his own variation "Object Oriented Ontology" and this book traces the evolution of Harman's thought into OOO from 1997 as an expert Heidegger interpreter to a brief statement of his thought on the subject in 2009, the date of the last essay in the book.
The book is therefore mostly of historical interest as concerns the development of OOO from Hurserl's phenomenology, Heidegger's tool-being, and Whitehead's process philosophy to a full fledged metaphysics of objects. While we see this thought-development in action here we never get more than pieces of the fully fleshed out OOO even in the last essays of the book. Essentially Harman states his position not in a positive way for itself, but as contrasted with contemporaries (like DeLanda, Deleuze, and Latour). The book makes clear the contributions of this lineage to Harman's own thought (especially the "assemblage theory" of Latour and DeLanda) and I suppose that is its purpose after all. For me, Harman's OOO seems like more of a starting point than a finished ontological system, but then as noted above, Harman never does give us a fully elaborated ontology in this book. All in all the whole text strikes me as an answer to the question "why do ontology" rather than the ontology itself.
As E. J. Lowe pointed out in "The Possibility of Metaphysics" and "The Four Category Ontology", a good ontology can help to clarify the margins of scientific investigation and contextualize the relation between mind and matter, goals also embedded in Harman's OOO. But while ostensibly "realist" in outcome, Harman's style (like Meillassoux but unlike Ferraris) is continental antirealist demonstrated by his distinction between "objects" and "intentional objects". "Speculative realism" is, after all, antirealism speculating about "the real" within and beyond the horizon of experience. But again, perhaps this distinction is only another way-station in the evolution of Harman's thought.
If you are a Harman fan you should read this book. If you are looking for a concise statement of Object Oriented Ontology there might be a better Harman book or paper out there.
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Join or create book clubs
Choose books together
Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Learn more
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle Cloud Reader.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Flip to back Flip to front
Follow the Author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
Customers who bought this item also bought
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Customer reviews
Top reviews from other countries
John Harbord
Very taken with this book, it fleshes out the ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 19, 2018Verified Purchase
Dan J B
OK
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 11, 2013Verified Purchase
anon
One Star
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 30, 2017Verified Purchase
John Rowan
What a waste of time!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 16, 2013Verified Purchase
