WHERE do the words “Speculative” and “Realism” come from? WHY is “Correlationism” a problem for philosophy? //and// HOW might we overcome philosophy’s non-relation to the non-philosophical?
A decade since the publication of Quentin Meillassoux’s After Finitude, discussions surrounding the so-called “speculative realist” movement have become myopic. Obsessed with idiosyncratic divisions and disputes, these discussions overwhelmingly represent misguided attempts to dictate WHAT speculative realism is.
In this episode, >ect attempts to approach things differently. Taking a cue from Deleuze and Guattari, we ask: To what problems do these philosophies respond? Instead of asking WHAT, we ask, WHY is Speculative Realism?
Music:
‘Concret PH’ by Iannis Xenakis, Electronic Music (2000)
‘Biogenesis’ by Eliane Radigue (1996)
Artwork:
Field 8 Detail 6 © Emma McNally
Readings:
Quentin Meillassoux “Metaphysics, Fideism, Speculation” (Chapter 2 of After Finitude)
Ray Brassier “Materialism, Science, and Phenomenology” (Introduction to Alien Theory)
Armen Avanessian and Suhail Malik “Genealogies of Speculation (Introduction)”
>ect podcast 
be interested if after this you folks think there is more to “speculative” than going beyond the established (by science?) while still trying to be somewhat concrete, or perhaps if this is just really a rehash of critical/theory talk, by and large I’ve found it all to be going nowhere and not intentionally
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We definitely share your concern and will be raising this
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Reblogged this on synthetic zero.
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Thanks for this, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
It serves as an excellent primer for this kind of thing. Very coherent and well articulated without the gratuitous jargonism that has become so common.
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Your listeners may enjoy this book featuring an interviews with Ray Brassier, Iain Hamilton Grant, and Quentin Meillassaoux. I read the first chapter (it was posted at one point) and seems to cover alot of ideas and people left out of the few commentaries on SR which do exist mainly because of personal politics and agendas. There is good coverage in particular of the Brassier/Blake/Wolfendale/Niemoczynski “axis.” Check it out! https://www.academia.edu/25061652/Speculative_Realism_An_Epitome_forthcoming_through_Kismet_Press_2016_
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Many thanks Karen, we look forward to reading it.
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etc-ers beware getting sucked into the sad clique wars around SR, so many unrecognized geniuses and only so much recognition to go around, didn’t Heidegger have something to say about gossip in philosophy once upon a time? ah well onto more productive exchanges let me suggest:
https://enemyindustry.wordpress.com/2016/11/25/a-post-sellarsian-encounter/
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