Object-oriented philosophy and the comprehension of scientific realities

Abstract

In this essay I focus on Graham Harman’s Prince of Networks, the first treatise entirely devoted to address the metaphysics of Bruno Latour. I explain how Harman highlights the philosophical roots and principles of latourian object-oriented philosophy. Furthermore, I analyze how Harman emphasizes both a new secular occasionalism as well as the new form of realism within Latour’s conception of reality featured as relationism. Besides, I also stress that Harman does not only defend the philosophy of Latour enthusiastically. This philosopher compares his own metaphysical commitments and his fourfold theory of reality to the one-fold theory found at Latour’s philosophy.  Finally, I assess Harman’s review of Bruno Latour’s work and I argue that some problems within Latour’s conception of reality are better understood when they happen to be explained in terms of the philosophy of science. I tackle briefly this task in what concerns the very comprehension of Latour’s occasionalism.