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Philosophy of Matter, The: A Meditation
The Philosophy of Matter is a journey in thinking through the material fate of the earth itself; its surfaces and undercurrrents, ecologies, environments and irreparable cracks.
With figures such as Spinoza, Gilles Deleuze and Michel Serres as philosophical guides and writings on New Materialism, Posthumanism and Affect Theory as intellectual context, Rick Dolphijn proposes a radical rethinking of some of the basic themes of subjectivity, materiality, body (both human and otherwise) and the act of living. This rethink is a work of imagination and meditation in order to conceive of “another earth for another people”. It is a homage to courageous thinking that dares to question the religious, capitalist and humanist realities of the day.
A poetic philosophy of how to live in troubling times when even the earth beneath us feels unstable, Dolphijn offers a way to think about the world with depth, honesty and glimpses of hope.
With figures such as Spinoza, Gilles Deleuze and Michel Serres as philosophical guides and writings on New Materialism, Posthumanism and Affect Theory as intellectual context, Rick Dolphijn proposes a radical rethinking of some of the basic themes of subjectivity, materiality, body (both human and otherwise) and the act of living. This rethink is a work of imagination and meditation in order to conceive of “another earth for another people”. It is a homage to courageous thinking that dares to question the religious, capitalist and humanist realities of the day.
A poetic philosophy of how to live in troubling times when even the earth beneath us feels unstable, Dolphijn offers a way to think about the world with depth, honesty and glimpses of hope.
- GenresPhilosophy
176 pages, Paperback
Published August 12, 2021
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 28, 2023
The big plus of this book for me is that it provides access to a version of Spinoza's ontology that is squarely relational and, so to speak, systemic. I found the remainder of Dolphijn's meditation hard to follow, although I subscribe to its basic ('puerile' (*)) thrust:
"Change your appetite! To forget critique, to forget Cartesianism, to forget the possible ways to liberate oneself from the crisis that haunt you and, instead, to practice freedom, fully blend into creative geophilosophical exploration through art and philosophy – that is my aim."
Dolphijn relies a lot on Haruki Murakami's writings to illuminate the scope of his "geophilosophy". It spurred me to return to the novelist, but I dropped 1Q84 after 800 pages and vowed never to touch another of his books. I experienced it as a big waste of time. Murakami is not by a long shot a philosopher, not even a 'holy fool', but a mediocre novelist who has one thing in his favour: his grit to "do the work" and put pen to paper.
A disappointment was also that the work of Michel Serres, to whom the book is dedicated, plays only a very minor role in Dolphijn's argument. Key sources for the author are Gilles Deleuze, Quentin Meillassoux, Reza Negarestani's Cyclonopedia, Michel Tournier's Friday, or, The Other Island and Karen Barad. I wish Serres' ideas would have been much more central in this book.
Maybe I need to give it some time. For now it's a 3-star read.
(*) viz. Hillman's Senex and Puer
"Change your appetite! To forget critique, to forget Cartesianism, to forget the possible ways to liberate oneself from the crisis that haunt you and, instead, to practice freedom, fully blend into creative geophilosophical exploration through art and philosophy – that is my aim."
Dolphijn relies a lot on Haruki Murakami's writings to illuminate the scope of his "geophilosophy". It spurred me to return to the novelist, but I dropped 1Q84 after 800 pages and vowed never to touch another of his books. I experienced it as a big waste of time. Murakami is not by a long shot a philosopher, not even a 'holy fool', but a mediocre novelist who has one thing in his favour: his grit to "do the work" and put pen to paper.
A disappointment was also that the work of Michel Serres, to whom the book is dedicated, plays only a very minor role in Dolphijn's argument. Key sources for the author are Gilles Deleuze, Quentin Meillassoux, Reza Negarestani's Cyclonopedia, Michel Tournier's Friday, or, The Other Island and Karen Barad. I wish Serres' ideas would have been much more central in this book.
Maybe I need to give it some time. For now it's a 3-star read.
(*) viz. Hillman's Senex and Puer
Displaying 1 of 1 review