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Tag Archives: Harman

Graham Harman’s Object-Oriented Ontology: A New Theory of Everything – Part 3: I Was Both Mistaken and Correct

06 Wednesday Mar 2019

Posted by The Madman in Philosophy

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Ferraris, Gabriel, Harman, New Realism, OOO, Philosophy, thoughts

I have constantly been considering the aspect of OOO that denies physicalism And I realize now that it is correct when one considers objects as Harman does. There are objects of thought and social objects that are not physical (such as imaginary friends, weddings, the election of 1996). However, I still maintain that there must be a physical substance underlying all such things. Can there be thoughts without brains? Weddings without people (at least currently on earth – for all you savage smart-asses 👍🏻)? An election without a means to record results (whether electronic or on paper)?

But now I am on page 161 and Harman directly addresses the New Realism of Ferraris and Gabriel. And he admits to the very complaint that I have against OOO. It claims no knowledge is possible of real objects. But such an absolute claim is it least knowledge of what real objects are not. And digging down into the relationships between objects and people only shows that knowledge is possible. Now if he would simply change his claim but no absolute knowledge is possible, then I would agree. He does say that direct knowing of real objects and real qualities is impossible and I agree, but this is far from no knowledge.

Perhaps I’m reading him wrong on this point. And perhaps he has read the New Realists wrong too. Absolute knowledge about anything is impossible because the relationship between the one attempting to know and the thing being known constantly shifts with the increase of knowledge by the student. I’m not sure how to word it clearly right now, but perhaps it will come to me later on. I’m just hoping I’m misunderstanding him and that he has more to offer in OOO. I feel like he is close to saying something useful but never breaking the dam’s walls to flood my mind.

The Eternal Nature of Love

06 Wednesday Feb 2019

Posted by The Madman in Philosophy, Random Thoughts

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aesthetics, ancient, art, Egypt, Harman, life sucks, love, OOO, Philosophy, poetry?, Random Thoughts, sometimes, thoughts

I was supposed to be reading Gilgamesh when I flipped over to some Love Poems from the Ramesside period of 1300-1100 BCE. One describes a girl’s shyness over a boy who rides in on his horse. Another is a boy’s depressed state that he blames on his love (he says he’ll feign terminal illness just so she’ll see him one last time). Yet another describes how a girl will seduce a boy by getting him to go swim with him while she wears her new sheer swimsuit from Memphis.

Love is a biological thing I guess. When I was younger, I never would have admitted it. It seems so real – like the most real thing that could exist. But it’s all hormones and emotions tied into a drive to keep the species going while providing an existential excuse to continue on through the hardships of life. Not a bad bargain I guess. And yet it sucks to see life through the eyes of wisdom. Know why the Teacher in Ecclesiastes sounds so depressing? Because wisdom is depressing when viewed with temporal human eyes. That’s why love appeals to us. It causes us to go beyond ourselves. The mountains at sunrise, the roar of the beach, the completion of a song, and the best paintings in the world – these all draw people beyond theirselves. They point to the existence of things beyond the mind of mankind. This is where my ontology meets reality. This is why it matters and how I can agree with Graham Harman about the centrality of aesthetics in philosophy (although I not as strongly).

But seriously, love hasn’t changed because it’s tied to human nature – every magnificent moment and every damned disaster.

I Never Liked Politics… Not Sure If I Do Now Either

30 Wednesday Jan 2019

Posted by The Madman in Philosophy, Random Thoughts

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desegregation, Gandhi, Harman, King, OOO, oppression, politics, social theory

I’m laying on my bed, getting a crick in my neck, reading over OOO’s theory of politics and social order. It’s quite interesting and claims to line up with Bruno Latour’s current position. I hope that’s correct because I wouldn’t know otherwise.

You see, I’ve always neglected politics because I was so caught up in trying to understand the world around me and myself (and God at one looooonnnnnggg point), so I didn’t care to try and control the world. I felt it was like operating heavy machinery without knowing what I was operating. The good news is – no one knows precisely what they are talking about, but luckily science has stepped in to help.

I’m still listening though this book and even went and got the hardback on Sunday. I’m loving it. But it’s also making me want to take action and I’m not so good with that due to my tormenting level of introversion.

Also, I’m kind of pissed that I wasn’t educated about the last 50 years of history while I was in high school. I’m directly effects by that part of history as much is not more than the major points beforehand! I’m learning so much about desegregation in America (as well as other major themes) from Kleinfeld’s book that I feel ashamed for being so ignorant in my early 30s.

I would love to study more Gandhi and King too. There are factors that made their movements work while many others fail. We have to study what works and make policies with that knowledge rather than making policies from dirty deals, back stage bargains, and party politics. We use the scientific method in most everything now, so why do we shirk it when it comes to our political opinion? That’s lazy and dangerous.

Ignorance will kill us all unless we learn to bear the truth bravely.

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