Blog

My book is published today.  I am keen to gage reactions to the book because it was intended to intervene in current debates including those concerning the way we read Kant, transcendental arguments and the nature of Deleuze’s thought.  I cannot help wondering what the response will be to my approach.  I give a close reading of parts of Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason in an attempt to ‘return to basics’, trying to understand the starting point of this book and the nature of the ‘ar...

I am currently working on an introductory lecture on architectonics which I will be delivering in Zurich next week.  I am always struck by the way in which this subject makes one return to the basics of philosophy.  A concern with the foundation, or lack of foundation, of knowledge is refreshing.  One has to think about whether philosophy has, or should have, solid ground beneath its feet.  It may be argued that this is too simple and naïve in its approach given the advances made in philosop...

An obsession with measuring activity means that it needs to be obvious and unmistakable.  This is the only way we can be sure about it and calm our fears.  When it comes to teacher training, such as course I am currently undertaking, it is often assumed that one is passive when one is listening.  ‘Lecturing is the least effective form of teaching’, we assume.  It is supposed that we retain the least information if we are listening.  We must ask ‘Are my students active?’  We must prove...

A very interesting debate has been taking place between different bloggers over the way we should read philosophy.  The issue is whether thinkers like Kant, Husserl or Derrida can be presented as realists in order to meet the challenges posed by speculative realism and object-oriented philosophy.  The notion that such philosophies are caught in the ‘correlationist circle’, as Quentin Meillassoux argues, has been challenged by those seeking to establish the realist credentials of these phi...

This news story about some unseen Kafka manuscripts points to a real problem: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10682482 .  An expert is being allowed to look at this unpublished work in order to help a judge rule over the ownership of the manuscripts.  It seems very wrong that privately owned manuscripts can be kept secret.  Even if the documents belong to a private individual the writings contained could surely be made public.  Scholars may have no access to potentially important work ...

The challenge posed to transcendental philosophy by forms of naturalism has been a theme of philosophy since Kant.  However, the challenge today is particular strong and its arguments persuasive.  The emerging movements of speculative realism and object-oriented philosophy continue to gather momentum.  Transcendental philosophy is charged with being limited by the correlation between thought and being or consciousness and reality.  It suffers from a lack of ambition, a modesty that makes it a...

My book is published today.  I am keen to gage reactions to the book because it was intended to intervene in current debates including those concerning the way we read Kant, transcendental arguments and the nature of Deleuze’s thought.  I cannot help wondering what the response will be to my approach.  I give a close reading of parts of Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason in an attempt to ‘return to basics’, trying to understand the starting point of this book and the nature of the ‘ar...

I am currently working on an introductory lecture on architectonics which I will be delivering in Zurich next week.  I am always struck by the way in which this subject makes one return to the basics of philosophy.  A concern with the foundation, or lack of foundation, of knowledge is refreshing.  One has to think about whether philosophy has, or should have, solid ground beneath its feet.  It may be argued that this is too simple and naïve in its approach given the advances made in philosop...

An obsession with measuring activity means that it needs to be obvious and unmistakable.  This is the only way we can be sure about it and calm our fears.  When it comes to teacher training, such as course I am currently undertaking, it is often assumed that one is passive when one is listening.  ‘Lecturing is the least effective form of teaching’, we assume.  It is supposed that we retain the least information if we are listening.  We must ask ‘Are my students active?’  We must prove...

A very interesting debate has been taking place between different bloggers over the way we should read philosophy.  The issue is whether thinkers like Kant, Husserl or Derrida can be presented as realists in order to meet the challenges posed by speculative realism and object-oriented philosophy.  The notion that such philosophies are caught in the ‘correlationist circle’, as Quentin Meillassoux argues, has been challenged by those seeking to establish the realist credentials of these phi...

This news story about some unseen Kafka manuscripts points to a real problem: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10682482 .  An expert is being allowed to look at this unpublished work in order to help a judge rule over the ownership of the manuscripts.  It seems very wrong that privately owned manuscripts can be kept secret.  Even if the documents belong to a private individual the writings contained could surely be made public.  Scholars may have no access to potentially important work ...

The challenge posed to transcendental philosophy by forms of naturalism has been a theme of philosophy since Kant.  However, the challenge today is particular strong and its arguments persuasive.  The emerging movements of speculative realism and object-oriented philosophy continue to gather momentum.  Transcendental philosophy is charged with being limited by the correlation between thought and being or consciousness and reality.  It suffers from a lack of ambition, a modesty that makes it a...