Interview for Gratton's Realism Course
Peter Gratton was kind enough to interview me in conjunction with his realism course. You can read the interview here, on his blog Philosophy in a Time of Error. You might also want to revisit the previous interviews with Harman and Bennett. Bryant’s is coming up next. I’m at a slight disadvantage compared to Harman and Bennett, because Gratton’s questions… read more
The Object-Oriented Ontology Symposium went off without a hitch today. All of the talks were excellent, as was the discussion. In addition to local attendees from Georgia Tech, Emory, and state of Georgia institutions, we also welcomed out-of-towners from Florida, North Carolina, New York, Maryland, and more. The talks and questions were recorded, and we’ll get them online as soon… read more
Peter Gratton has been interviewing some of the authors of readings in his speculative realism class this term. The latest interview, with Jane Bennett just went online. Bennet is the author of this year’s
Halo and Philosophy
Did you enjoy reading The Legend of Zelda and Philosophy and World of Warcraft and Philosophy? Do you wish you’d written an article for a collection like that? Do you fancy yourself an elite supersoldier like Master Chief? Then maybe you should pen a chapter for the just-announced Halo and Philosophy anthology. Abstracts are due May 15. Go read the… read more
Thoughts on the Object-Oriented Empiricist
Via Bryant, I just discovered the blog Struggles with Philosophy. I’m not sure who the author is, but as Levi points out, discussion there has recently taken up Object-Oriented Ontology. Here’s an excerpt from the latest salvo. At one level I want to differentiate between the theory (or philosophy) of OOP and the praxis of OOP, which will be designated… read more
Guys with Beards talk about Heidegger
Check out this awesomely insane forthcoming film by Tao Ruspoli, about philosophy and the reception of Heidegger. It’s called Being in the World, and the filmmaker characterizes it as “an attempt to bring profound philisophical ideas to a non-academic audience.” From the film blurb: Being in the World is a celebration of human beings, and our ability, through the mastery… read more
My GDC 2010 Microtalk
What follows is my short talk from the microtalks session at last week’s Game Developers Conference. The format was a modified pecha kucha, with 20 slides advancing automatically every 16 seconds. The theme provided by organizer Rich Lemarchand was simply, “Play with Us.” I chose to explore the relationship between developers and their audiences. This is a very famous… read more
Also, win a copy of a book I haven't yet written
Sometimes serious ideas emerge from the strangest places. Last week Harman tossed an offhand question onto his blog: Who is the most overrated philosopher?. It sparked quite serious discussion all over. So serious that before long, Harman found himself wondering if an anthology of opinions on “overrated philosophers” could indeed become a serious work of philosophy. I now find myself… read more
The Stuff of Things is Many
The past few days have witnessed a flurry of comments on the use and misuse of “materialism” in philosophy, starting with Gratton and continuing with Harman (1, 2) and Bryant. Gratton hits the nail on the head when he asks, “What kind of material would we even be talking about?” Indeed, it’s become increasingly difficult to understand from what material… read more
Louis Menand's new book on professors and professionalization
Via Peter Gratton, I’ve just read Slate’s detailed review of Louis Menand’s new book The Marketplace of Ideas, about the state of the university and the anxiety of the professoriate. Given that my own feelings about such matters are far less measured and far more informal than Menand’s, I’ll look forward to reading the book, since he clearly covers many… read more