I'm talking this week at Florida International University. The title of my talk:
ECOLOGY IN THE TIME OF HYPEROBJECTS
In this lecture, Timothy Morton asks us to consider what he calls “hyperobjects”: entities such as radioactive materials and global warming. Hyperobjects are massively distributed in time and space, subject to temporal distortion, nonlocal, phased and “interobjective.” Hyperobjects appear in the human world as a product of our thinking through the ecological crisis we have entered.
The ecological crisis is best thought of as the time of hyperobjects. Why? Because this is the moment at which massive nonhuman, nonsentient entities make decisive contact with humans, ending various human concepts such as “world,” “horizon,” “nature” and even “environment.” The existence of hyperobjects poses a number of problems for ecology and philosophy, from theories of self-interest to deep ontological questions.
While I know this site is affiliated with Speculative Realist tendencies and whatnot, recently I wrote a blog entry offering a leftist critique of the ideology of “Green” environmentalism, deep ecology, animal rights activism, eco-friendliness, and lifestyle politics in general (veganism, “dumpster diving,” “buying organic,” etc.). I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the matter and any responses you might have to its criticisms.
ReplyDeleteGreat Ross, I have it open now. Thanks so much.
ReplyDeleteNo problem. I used to be associated with the "Speculative Heresy" project, until I found my to critical Marxism.
ReplyDeleteYou might also enjoy the other posts I have on "Man and Nature." They actually address the deeper philosophical issues rather than just launch into a polemical tirade.
Seems like a very cool talk. I have to admit i just found this and thought you might like it. Seems like Justin Beiber understands Hyperobjects: http://www.theonion.com/articles/your-obsessive-love-or-hatred-of-me-means-nothing,19707/
ReplyDelete