Speculative Realism

Does it even exist? Here is a thought about it.

Levi has been on one of his prolific blogging tears again, including a couple posts listing axioms for a dark ontology (here and here). You can read through them all of course, but here are the ones that interest me…

It looks like someone has posted my 2008 article on Manuel DeLanda, HERE. I have no idea whether it’s authorized or not, but it’s out there. This was originally a lecture I gave at Goldsmiths in April 2007, a week or so before the inaugural Speculative Realism gathering, at the invitation of Alberto Toscano.

Simondon: Being and Technology This collection of essays, including one by Simondon himself, outlines the central tenets of Simondon’s thought, the implication of his thought for numerous disciplines and his relationship to other thinkers such as Heidegger, Deleuze and Canguilhem. Contributors: Miguel de Beistegui, Elizabeth Grosz, Anne Sauvagnargues, Bernard Stiegler, Igor Krtolica, Jean-Hugues Barthélémy, Yves […]

DANGER, DANGER! In the salt mine, everybody has their “duty” to perform. That is, we are all fellow laborers here, each facing roughly the same dangers – say, of injury, imminent collapse, flooding, or monoxide poisoning – despite our radically differing tasks. As such, we each have our own relatively unique experience and perspective in the business. Francois [...] The post Coro-nations: The Crowning Ultimatum of Truth appeared first on inthesaltmine.

Here. My quick gloss on my own argument (which Atheology nicely tries to sketch out), without going to the specific ... Continue reading

Iain Sinclair is a leading writer, filmmaker, poet and psychogeographer, renowned for his walks in the borderlands of cities, derelict sites and urban redevelopments. His solitary walks in Middlesbrough and Hartlepool were the focus of a public talk at mima. Sinclair previously walked the M25 to write London Orbital, and his new book, Ghost Milk, […]

One of the great benefits of being in Chicago was to have hung out just now with Mark Payne, a classics scholar and old and rekindled friend. We used to live adjacent to one another in New Buildings 1 at Magdalen College. He is a very very smart guy. And a very very funny guy. It turns out we are both fans of Joe Wenderoth, the Ali G of agonized laughter. And we both think about ecology. Symposium wrap up soon. It was incredible, is the headline.

Concentric Temporalities

Marketing Heidegger? “Being and Time is a difficult read. But for one business consultant  Heidegger’s classic holds plentiful clues to understanding the ‘deeper’ reality of marketplace behavior  which many modern firms have failed to grasp.  Today, how to break out of that Cartesian rut, and learn to love Heidegger for fun and a little more profit.” Professor […]

Earlier this week, Kathleen Fitzpatrick presented a statement to the National Academy of Sciences on the MLA’s position on public access to scholarly work. I was particularly interested in this line: we may in coming years operate under a model…

Here. I don’t have anything to add, except to say this is why I’m trying to keep my publications more ... Continue reading

Isao Hashimoto, visualization of every nuclear detonation since 1945.

The theme is Continental philosophies of religion, and there are many outstanding pieces in issue. I have two articles, one ... Continue reading

We haven't got a clue, have we?

Why agrilogistics might not be the best, part 53432.

We live in a time where the charge of hypocrisy is almost impossible to avoid – particularly – but not exclusively – for those engaged in struggles against capitalism and ecological disaster. As a middle class person (a professional, part … Continue reading →

After ten years, I’ve moved from typepad to wordpress. I won’t bore you with the story, but I’m still working on migrating my disqus-based comments. Hopefully that will all be worked out this weekend.

His scholarship focuses on social inequality, the effects of urban growth on the individual, and the interconnection between authority, modernism and public life. Professor Sennett has been described as “one of the great urban enthusiasts of our age”.

After ten years, I’ve moved from typepad to wordpress. I won’t bore you with the story, but I’m still working on migrating my disqus-based comments. Hopefully that will all be worked out this weekend.

C17 and C18 North America variations on themes in cultural history of climate Samuel Williams, “Change of Climate in North America and Europe” (1790) “The whole earth is less subject to extreme cold than it was formerly. Every climate has become more temperature, and uniform, and equal and this will continue to be the cse so long as diligence, industry, and agriculture shall mark the conduct of mankind” 1988: “Since greenhouse gases are chiefly the result of human industry and agriculture, it is not an exaggeration to say that civilization itself is the ultimate cause of global warming” Colonial elites had a stake in talking about climate 1638: descriptions of New England include language about the climate to produce feeling of security Edward Long C18 response to Buffon, 1784: “phlogistic particles from myriads of reeking dunghills, from the fumes of furnaces from the fire s and smoke of ten thousand crowded cities...” He can’t believe humans can change climate Nova Scotia and New...

“Malthus and the Anthropocene” Author of Imperial Hygiene Life on Earth (in press); on geopolitics and world population problem I was taken with the interest in scale for historians. It’s not so prevalent in history. But if it’s common for historians to talk about past as a foreign country, the deep past is another planet! Why the anxiety? Consensus of 1800 or 1950--this past is not another planet, it’s homeland for modern historians. Ceding of the Anthropocene to other disciplines. Approaching it as if not part of their discipline. Rather the non-historians should be struggling with historical time. Doesn’t require “big history” or “deep history” or David Armitage “transtemporal history” E.A. Wrigley, an economic historian of industrialization Frederick Johnson: we are starting to see British historians recast the industrial revolution as an energy revolution is climate the price to be paid for rising standards of living? the most interesting thing to happen to history for...

We are extending the deadline for applications for this year's Symposium to July 1. Here's a copy of the CFP. Note that we have decided on our keynotes: Prof. Claire Colebrook from Penn State, and our own Prof. Tim Morton. We're very excited to have them keynote! Ecology and the Environmental Humanities Keynotes: Prof. Claire Colebrook, PennState University Prof. Timothy Morton, Rice University Rice University English Symposium September 13-14, 2013 The 2013 English Symposium at Rice University invites responses to the ecological and nonhuman turns in the humanities. These turns are undoubtedly responses to environmental crises, food shortages, global warming, factory farming, and species extinction, but this symposium is also interested in discussing the emergence of nonhumans, such as matter, objects, animals, systems, technology, and media, in our critical conversations surrounding these problems. While the humanities have an opportunity to challenge the problems and solutions put...

Imagine rolling all the water on Earth into a sphere. What would it look like? And the air?

I want to reflect on what we’ve just heard. It began with the proposition that this term isn’t useful for public policy. But I can also see the reverse. Cost benefit analysis as conventionally undertaken seems not all that useful for problems of the Anthropocene. Maybe we need to change the concept! People’s discount rates are even steeper than economists’: 50 years from now, who cares? My own topic here is going to be a bit disorganized. I haven’t spoken on this theme before. Stray thoughts on cases for the term. Agassiz, Vernadsky, Stoppani (the most crucial that Jan mentioned): the Anthropozoic (1873) humans acquired power that they did in modern times Word cropped up 1958 (first of all) according to Google. becomes part of vocab after Crutzen Journal of the Anthropocene Anthropocene Review Elementa: J. of Anthropocene Science Duetsches-Museum Munich/Haus der Kulturen der Welt National Geographic I’m going to begin with a very theoretical case One should expect Anthropocene like...

“Public Policy over Massive Time Scales” David and I are law professors focused on public policy. How to make the world better through it. My first reaction was that the idea was not useful at all. But this is a topic we can discuss. There is a related issue of massive time scales. I’m not going to say the word Anthropocene again. But you’ll see why what we say might be relevant. Question: when the government implements a project, how far into the future should it calculate the costs and benefits? Amortization rate of benefits: economists assume this Examples: bridge (ca 30 years) Reform of judiciary (<100 font="" years=""></100> Radioactive waste (lasts 10 000 to 1 million years) Power plants (climate change--indefinite time scale) future benefits discounted by economists; build bridge, or you can set aside money in bank let it accumulate interest then 10 years from now people can use that to benefit themselves 3% growth >> .97 discount factor Discounting: typical project has current...