The universe of things : on speculative realism / Steven Shaviro.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Shaviro, Steven, author.

Series:

Posthumanities ; 30.

Posthumanities

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Whitehead, Alfred North, 1861-1947.

Whitehead, Alfred North.

Realism.

Physical Description:

xi, 180 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Minneapolis, MN : University of Minnesota Press, [2014]

Summary:

The Universe of Things explores the common insistence of speculative realism on a noncorrelationist thought: that things or objects exist apart from how our human minds relate to and comprehend them. Steven Shaviro focuses on how Alfred North Whitehead both anticipates and offers challenges to prevailing speculate realist thought. The stakes of this recent speculative realist thought-of the effort to develop new ways of grasping the world-are enormous as it becomes dear that our inherited assumptions are no longer adequate to describe, much less understand, the reality we experience around us. As Shaviro acknowledges, speculative realist thought has its dangers, but it also, like the best speculative fiction, holds the potential to liberate us from confining views of what is outside ourselves and, he believes, to reclaim aesthetics and beauty as a principle of life. Bringing together a wide array of contemporary thought, and evenhandedly assessing its current debates, The Universe of Things is an invaluable guide to the evolution of speculative realism and the provocation of Whitehead's path-breaking work. Book jacket.

Contents:

Whitehead and speculative realism

Self-enjoyment and concern

The actual volcano

The universe of things

Panpsychism and/or eliminativism

Consequences of panpsychism

Noncorrelational thought

Aisthesis.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780816689262

0816689261

9780816689248

0816689245

OCLC:

879328853