Metaphysics or Metaphors for the Anthropocene? Scientific Naturalism and the Agency of Things
In this paper, I provide the outlines of an alternative metaphilosophical orientation for Continental philosophy, namely, a form of scientific naturalism that has proximate roots in the work of Bachelard and Althusser. I describe this orientation as an “alternative” insofar as it provides a framewor...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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De Gruyter
2018-09-01
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| Series: | Open Philosophy |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/opphil-2018-0014 |
| _version_ | 1818363467658166272 |
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| author | Gamez Patrick |
| author_facet | Gamez Patrick |
| author_sort | Gamez Patrick |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this paper, I provide the outlines of an alternative metaphilosophical orientation for Continental philosophy, namely, a form of scientific naturalism that has proximate roots in the work of Bachelard and Althusser. I describe this orientation as an “alternative” insofar as it provides a framework for doing justice to some of the motivations behind the recent revival of metaphysics in Continental philosophy, in particular its ecological-ethical motivations. In the second section of the paper, I demonstrate how ecological-ethical issues motivate new metaphysicians like Bruno Latour, Jane Bennett, Timothy Morton, Ian Bogost, and Graham Harman to impute to objects real features of agency. I also try to show how their commitments lead to deep ambiguities in their metaphysical projects. In the final section, I outline a type of scientific naturalism in Continental philosophy that parallels the sort of naturalism championed by Quine, both conceptually and historically, and suggest that it might serve our ecological-ethical purposes better. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T21:48:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f55c30bfc6604a4b85aaed94ff9af336 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2543-8875 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T21:48:56Z |
| publishDate | 2018-09-01 |
| publisher | De Gruyter |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Open Philosophy |
| spelling | doaj.art-f55c30bfc6604a4b85aaed94ff9af3362022-12-21T23:30:20ZengDe GruyterOpen Philosophy2543-88752018-09-011119121210.1515/opphil-2018-0014opphil-2018-0014Metaphysics or Metaphors for the Anthropocene? Scientific Naturalism and the Agency of ThingsGamez Patrick0Missouri University of Science and Technology,Missiori, United States of AmericaIn this paper, I provide the outlines of an alternative metaphilosophical orientation for Continental philosophy, namely, a form of scientific naturalism that has proximate roots in the work of Bachelard and Althusser. I describe this orientation as an “alternative” insofar as it provides a framework for doing justice to some of the motivations behind the recent revival of metaphysics in Continental philosophy, in particular its ecological-ethical motivations. In the second section of the paper, I demonstrate how ecological-ethical issues motivate new metaphysicians like Bruno Latour, Jane Bennett, Timothy Morton, Ian Bogost, and Graham Harman to impute to objects real features of agency. I also try to show how their commitments lead to deep ambiguities in their metaphysical projects. In the final section, I outline a type of scientific naturalism in Continental philosophy that parallels the sort of naturalism championed by Quine, both conceptually and historically, and suggest that it might serve our ecological-ethical purposes better.https://doi.org/10.1515/opphil-2018-0014speculative realismvital materialismenvironmental ethicsnon-anthropocentrismbachelardalthussercontinental philosophy |
| spellingShingle | Gamez Patrick Metaphysics or Metaphors for the Anthropocene? Scientific Naturalism and the Agency of Things Open Philosophy speculative realism vital materialism environmental ethics non-anthropocentrism bachelard althusser continental philosophy |
| title | Metaphysics or Metaphors for the Anthropocene? Scientific Naturalism and the Agency of Things |
| title_full | Metaphysics or Metaphors for the Anthropocene? Scientific Naturalism and the Agency of Things |
| title_fullStr | Metaphysics or Metaphors for the Anthropocene? Scientific Naturalism and the Agency of Things |
| title_full_unstemmed | Metaphysics or Metaphors for the Anthropocene? Scientific Naturalism and the Agency of Things |
| title_short | Metaphysics or Metaphors for the Anthropocene? Scientific Naturalism and the Agency of Things |
| title_sort | metaphysics or metaphors for the anthropocene scientific naturalism and the agency of things |
| topic | speculative realism vital materialism environmental ethics non-anthropocentrism bachelard althusser continental philosophy |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1515/opphil-2018-0014 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT gamezpatrick metaphysicsormetaphorsfortheanthropocenescientificnaturalismandtheagencyofthings |