Society and Space board member and former co-editor Peter Gratton’s new book, Speculative Realism: Problems and Prospects is now published.
Speculative realism is one of the most talked-about movements in recent Continental philosophy. It has been discussed widely amongst the younger generation of Continental philosophers seeking new philosophical approaches and promises to form the cornerstone of future debates in the field.
This book introduces the contexts out of which speculative realism has emerged and provides an overview of the major contributors and latest developments. It guides the reader through the important questions asked by realism (what can I know? what is reality?), examining philosophy’s perennial questions in new ways. The book begins with the speculative realist’s critique of ‘correlationism’, the view that we can never reach what is real beneath our language systems, our means for perception, or our finite manner of being-in-the-world. It goes on to critically review the work of the movement’s most important thinkers, including Quentin Meillassoux, Ray Brassier, and Graham Harman, but also other important writers such as Jane Bennett and Catherine Malabou whose writings delineate alternative approaches to the real. It interrogates the crucial questions these thinkers have raised and concludes with a look toward the future of speculative realism, especially as it relates to the reality of time.
The journal has published some related work on these themes, including
Graham Harman, 2010, “I am also of the opinion that materialism must be destroyed” Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 28(5) 772 – 790 [open access]
Quentin Meillassoux, 2012, “The contingency of the laws of nature” Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 30(2) 322 – 334
Yusoff K, Grosz E, Clark N, Saldanha A, Nash C, 2012, “Geopower: a panel on Elizabeth Grosz’s Chaos, Territory, Art: Deleuze and the Framing of the Earth” Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 30(6) 971 – 988
There have also been some related posts on this site, including
Two reviews of Catherine Malabou’s books – Ontology of the Accident (2012), reviewed by Stacey Smith; and Changing Difference (2011), reviewed by Sarah Kuzuk.
Jane Bennett, Vibrant Matter, reviewed by Noel Castree
Book Forum on Ben Woodard, On an Ungrounded Earth, reviewed by Kai Bosworth, Harlan Morehouse, Rory Rowan and Jordan Skinner
Reblogged this on Progressive Geographies and commented:
Some papers from the Society and Space journal and open site that relate to Peter Gratton’s newly published book.
[…] The editors have kindly posted those here. […]