Ruyer and the Possible: Translation of Chapter 1 of Utopia and Utopias

The following is a translation of Raymond Ruyer, L’Utopie et les utopies, Paris: P.U.F., 1950. p. 3-8.
Chapter One: The Utopian Genre
The word utopia comes from Thomas More who wrote Utopia in 1518. His Utopia is an imaginary island whose government has been founded by the Utopian king. U-topie signifies “no place,” and this title has [...]

Matter and Object-Oriented Philosophy

It’s becoming increasingly clear that one of the main dividing lines emerging in speculative realism is between those who argue for an object-oriented position (Graham, Levi, and Latour being the exemplars), and those who argue that relationality is entirely on the side of ideality (Brassier and Laruelle). (Although, as I will show, this simple division [...]

Speculative Anxiety

In the closing pages of The Mathematics of Novelty Sam Gillespie turns to the subject of anxiety to relate Lacan to Badiou. Anxiety for Lacan, as Gillespie points out, centers on the lack of lack – the empty ground of being (p. 118). In terms of other philosophers’ concept of anxiety it is [...]

Object-Oriented Philosophy (Updated)

[UPDATE: Graham Harman has decided to step into the blogging world at the appropriately titled, Object-Oriented Philosophy blog. He's already started at a blistering pace, so let's hope he can keep it up!]
In line with his enthusiasm for open-access publishing, Graham Harman has been kind enough to provide us with 13 (!) unpublished articles of [...]