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A review by qaphsiel
Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology After the End of the World by Timothy Morton
4.0
I'm no philosopher, at least not in any professional sense or by virtue of being well-read in the subject. I like philosophy. I have read some - mostly classical and some of the more well-known later ones. Basically, the stuff you're likely to encounter in decent high school and college education (at least in the 80s and 90s when my formal education took place) and or a bit beyond that. I've read some since then, nothing in particular, just what fell into my TBR pile from friends and whatnot.
This book was my first exposure to object oriented ontology (OOO). It's an introduction of sorts, but only to one type of object, not to OOO itself. For that reason alone I'm reluctant to recommend it to someone who has encountered OOO before. (And also for that reason, I plan to reread it soon.)
Still, even with my light exposure to philosophy and complete lack of exposure to OOO I enjoyed the book and found it very thought provoking. I'm not sure I understand all of it, let alone buy it.
Given my superficial understanding, I'm not going to attempt more than the briefest of explanations.
What is OOO? A metaphysical theory that treats all things in the universe as objects without preference to their particular characteristics: size, intelligence, age, longevity, whatever. Thus is rejects human-centric interpretations based on any sort of human superiority or notions that reality is a product of the mind and senses. Objects are not necessary indivisible in the strict sense or even physical - forces and processes are objects too. Objects are objects are objects and exist on equal footing with each other.
What are hyperobjects? Object that are vast - compared to humans at least - in space and time. Examples are things like the Earth, evolution, galaxies, and even global warming. We can never fully experience such objects. Instead we see small parts of them or experience them indirectly through their effects on us and other objects - the evolution of selectively bread foxes in Russia, extreme weather events, the Earth setting from the moon, the disk of galaxy in the night sky.
The author invented (discovered?) hyperobjects in an earlier work, but this is the first work which details them and how they affect us and other objects. Although focused on hyperobjects, many of the concepts and ideas seem like they should apply equally to regular objects (or whatever non-hyper objects are to be called).
This was definitely a different way of looking at reality for me and, I would guess, most people. It's worthwhile to read to experience that point of view, even should it be replaced by a better theory.
So, if you have a little philosophy under your belt, especially some metaphysics, I do recommend this. Even if you don't and just want to bend your brain a bit, you might want to give it a try.
This book was my first exposure to object oriented ontology (OOO). It's an introduction of sorts, but only to one type of object, not to OOO itself. For that reason alone I'm reluctant to recommend it to someone who has encountered OOO before. (And also for that reason, I plan to reread it soon.)
Still, even with my light exposure to philosophy and complete lack of exposure to OOO I enjoyed the book and found it very thought provoking. I'm not sure I understand all of it, let alone buy it.
Given my superficial understanding, I'm not going to attempt more than the briefest of explanations.
What is OOO? A metaphysical theory that treats all things in the universe as objects without preference to their particular characteristics: size, intelligence, age, longevity, whatever. Thus is rejects human-centric interpretations based on any sort of human superiority or notions that reality is a product of the mind and senses. Objects are not necessary indivisible in the strict sense or even physical - forces and processes are objects too. Objects are objects are objects and exist on equal footing with each other.
What are hyperobjects? Object that are vast - compared to humans at least - in space and time. Examples are things like the Earth, evolution, galaxies, and even global warming. We can never fully experience such objects. Instead we see small parts of them or experience them indirectly through their effects on us and other objects - the evolution of selectively bread foxes in Russia, extreme weather events, the Earth setting from the moon, the disk of galaxy in the night sky.
The author invented (discovered?) hyperobjects in an earlier work, but this is the first work which details them and how they affect us and other objects. Although focused on hyperobjects, many of the concepts and ideas seem like they should apply equally to regular objects (or whatever non-hyper objects are to be called).
This was definitely a different way of looking at reality for me and, I would guess, most people. It's worthwhile to read to experience that point of view, even should it be replaced by a better theory.
So, if you have a little philosophy under your belt, especially some metaphysics, I do recommend this. Even if you don't and just want to bend your brain a bit, you might want to give it a try.