"Object-Oriented Ontology: A New Theory of Everything" by Graham Harman

In this meetup series we will be reading "Object-Oriented Ontology: A New Theory of Everything" by Graham Harman

Here is a description of what the book is all about:

What is reality, really?
Are humans more special or important than the non-human objects we perceive?
How does this change the way we understand the world?

We humans tend to believe that things are only real in as much as we perceive them, an idea reinforced by modern philosophy, which privileges us as special, radically different in kind from all other objects. But as Graham Harman, one of the theory's leading exponents, shows, Object-Oriented Ontology rejects the idea of human specialness:
the world, he states, is clearly not the world as manifest to humans.
At the heart of this philosophy is the idea that objects - whether real, fictional, natural, artificial, human or non-human - are mutually autonomous. In this brilliant new introduction, Graham Harman lays out the history, ideas and impact of Object-Oriented Ontology, taking in everything from art and literature, politics and natural science along the way.

The book is available here - https://www.amazon.ca/Pelican-Book-Object-Oriented-Ontology/dp/0241269156

STRUCTURE/FORMAT
This will NOT be a live-reading event, so please be sure to read the text beforehand if you want to talk during the meetup. If you just want to show up and listen to other people discuss the book, then reading the book is optional.

During the first one and a half hours we will stick as closely as possible to the text. During the last half hour we will have a "free for all" section where you can try to relate the text to other philosophers, or artists, or scientists, or anything you like.

One thing to be aware of is that your host and guide to the book
(Philip) has some disabilities that require him to run the group a little bit differently. For example, I will not see you and you will not see me. In many ways this meetup will be run more like a conference call on the phone than like a standard Jitsi Meetup. I hope very much that I can run this meetup without requiring the "raise hands" feature. But because this meetup will be less visually oriented than many other meetups, we will all have to work together to make sure the conversation flows well without the "raise hands" feature.

I honestly think you can read Object-Oriented Ontology without much knowledge of the history of philosophy and still get a lot out of your reading. But a little bit of knowledge of Kant and Heidegger and other philosophers will no doubt enhance your appreciation of the text. So you might want to review Kant and Heidegger a bit, but you do not have to. I will explain anything about Kant and Heidegger that needs explaining as we work through "Object-Oriented Ontology".

ADVANCED PREPARATION
For the first meeting, please read the Introduction, pages 3 to 19. If you have the time, please take notes as you read and consider preparing a few questions or comments you want to share with the group.

MEETING PLATFORM
Please RSVP in advance to get the video conferencing link.

Just want to dial in on your phone? Click this link to see the dial in phone numbers for this meeting https://meet.jit.si/static/dialInInfo.html?room=Phil’sPhil