Graham Haan Te tJd ble recent years I have been ed wi a pilo
sphcal ovemt caled secave raism.· But my own variant of specave reaism, kown as object-oriented plosophy, a aly dates to e lat 1990s Te princles of objct-orented pilosophy can be smmarzed a fw sentences First, pilosophy mst dea w very pe of object raer t redc ng a objes obje s to one privleged pe: zebras, ng lepchans, and aies a jst as wory wor y of piosophcal disssion as toms and brains. Second, obje a deper an eir appe anc to e hman ind bt aso deeper t �ir relans to one anoer, so ¢at con t between objec mst be or vicari os. rd, obec are poarized two ways wa ys ere s a dsncon been obje and eir qaes, and a dsncon beween re objects wdrawn wdra wn om a access and sensal obje at exst oly ol y for some observer, observ er, wheer whe er h ! or hman Fnay, e basic problems f onoogy mst be reformlated terms of e foold sct at reslts m ese o olarizaons e core of objes obj es a bref 4
I N - Tugh Noe -10 e
arle e s one, tre no way to dea equaely l of ese problems. ste, fos on c e natre of wat have calle real objec by way of a cal eae of e mous e of Edgton's to tabl. Sir Stley EdngO was a Bri is aspyscst best kown for h observa ons of a epse in 199,wc coed nsteins generl eory f v Rsed as a Qer e aso ad a bref issdent cer as a conscieous objer Brs parpaon Wod ar 1 Egons py os opy, oweve, s s we-ko pable of to bes e ocon t 9 Gord Les Enb, e desces e sta-· on as folows: ave seted don to e of ng ese lectres and ave drawn up y cas m to tables.To bles Yes; are dupicats of every object about to bles, o ca to ps."! e rder may gess, e t bles n eson e e of everyday fe an e sae ble as dese pycs.We ve lo been a Snws conct of e o ctes,"2 is g so-ed iterary ntes m naral sensts. Edingons sypies sly on oupe second Bu e ait at e t canot be eaced
1 I A
N f P W Yor c 99 [ig. 1928]), p ix 2 I C w u (Camb UK.: Cmbri Univesi Ps 1993 [oig 1959)
you t mod physi hs by
emoses
G H
lc ss e
E 6
t my scond scc ble e Qy one which is ey eewherev "thee my be. On e oer nd I need not t you mod e pysi w never succd exorcisg t t bge compod of t r n, men imagy d neted prejudic whc vsibe my and gbe my aspWe must bid good-bye to t for e psen t for we a abot om e wod to e scc world veaed by pcs is or i tended b woy word'
Agains s atude, e humanes mit be empted to reverse Eddngton's conclusions and ca hat e ble of everyday fe is jus as real or even more rel, e scenc tble. e s table and s re would ereby be opposed o e second, and e r eslt would be he usual ench war beteen scence and e humanies My conry ew is a both groups re equaly wrong about e tale, and for precsely e same reason Wen weigng e rspecve mer i of e everyday and scienc bles, we shall d a bo are equal unr snce bo aon smply o opposie forms of reduonism e scens reduces e table donwrd o ny prcles insile o e eye; e h reduces i upward o a series of ees on people nd oher ngs To pu i bluny, bo of Eddingons bles e u er shas at cose e able w its nte and exe enviroments, respevely he real able is n fact a rd ale lyng beeen 6
I 00 Not -100 Tug 100 Ne -100 G
3 Ed, Nae o Phs Wl (ee note 1), p. x.
ese o oers. And Eddngon's o ables provided e moral suppor for Snows o cl res of scis and humaiss, o id able w probably reque a d clre compleely dierent o ese o. Ths no o sa a e rd clre is a comleely one: per haps is e cle of e a which do no sem o reduce ables eiher quark and elec ons or bleeecs on hans Wha we e rd able cano b reduced downwad o e sec one. dngon de scribes i, "[e] sciec ble osy ep ness Sparsely scaed n e pess nu meus elecc chages sg abou wi ea seed; bu er combined b aoun less a bonh of e b of e able if4 is way, e f household ble is ssolved ino rusg eleic chages and oer ele en. Bu wle e naral scences mus be amed for having iscoverd ese mnus ce enes does no follow a e everyday ble can be aed ouigh and replaced by ese parcles Frs, ne a e able as a whole has feares a i various coponen parcles do o have in isolaon These are f en called eergen propees, and ee need no be anng yscal abou em. The pon is no ha he passage om q ad elec ons o ables is aclous (quanm eoy can explain such anos faly we) simply a e able has a auonomos al N86 I Gr
4 i p x
E I 7
over and above its causal omponents, just as indiidual huns annot e issolved ak into eir arents.No at we an le or out remove a number of e table's omonents wiout desoy e bleI am inned to agre at l enes are omosite, made of smaler ings aer a beig simle and indible, but in no way does is rove at oy e t are r ou is rjud�e goes bak to e days of re-So ilosoy Ev every ysial ig is made of atoms, every basketball ge is also made of individual laysyet objets are not just sets of atoms any more an a game s just a set of lays or a naon just a set of individuals.The dea of a Egyan in ombat on Moamed Mamoud Seet s agi, yet it does not mean te ea o Egyt; indeed, qite the onary Haing dended the estene of bles against er s dissoluon, it migt be assumed at we are defenng e rits of Eddingn' st table, e one of everyday use. e desibes s everyday ble, "[it] as been f to me om my eariest years It a omonlae objet of at eniron ment at al e od.t as extension is omaravely ermanent; it is oloured; it is above b We ire for now e word "sbstanal, w Eddingto uses i a sg and hilosoialy imreise y.at is imornt for e momt is at 8
I N Th N e
51Iid,l
table number one is idene wi e table of everyday use: e one we see, the one at which w sit, e one we poun or lovngy. soke Yet is rst able is sl not, e one at we ar seeng Surprisngly enou, e peson who tels us why is Heidegger, even ough he is oen viewed as a champion of everyday uensis aganst a science at "does not "6 The phenomenology of Edmund usser asks us to avoid al scienc eories about reay not irecy seen; we ae equested to shun Eddngton's favored second able an smpy escribe what appeas to consciousness eidegger counters at most of our dea ng wi ings are not a mate of conscious experience at al Blood crclates ee, and veh and oors non smooy ese malcon and s gan ou noce? Rested n tes of Eddngtons exampe, e able I see is deivave of e able at invis ibly used as go about y da busness But ven s folaon does not go deep enou Aer even e able encountered n P e do not exhaust e bles ai one moment it reiaby supports papeei and our iday mea; in e ne it colapses to e ground, shate eve s ows at just as e be ould not be idened wi e one we it was also not e same as e one we ed e real able is a genune reai deeper an any eorecal or pracal Gm
6 I H,
? s
J Glen Gay (New Yok: H, 1976 [oig 151/52]; p. 8 I Hg,
B T Joh Macuaie E b (NYok He, 208 [oig. 1927])
E 9
encouner w . An beyond s, ocks o oer weighs sla no e able ey fa to ex haus is er eps as well Te able is some ing eeper an any relaons i which i igh becoe nvolve wheer wi huans or in aae enes. shor Engn's every ay able nb one is no beer an his scienc able nuber wo Jus as e cano reuce e able ownwar o elecic charges rushng o ep space we also cano reuce upwar o is eorecal praccal or· causal ees on huans or on anyng else We have now isolae e locaon of e r able-e oly rea one. Eingons rs able rns ables by g e ino noing bu r yay eecs on us or on soeone else Eingon's secon ble rns bles by isine e ino nong bu ny elec ic caes or fan aeral ickerngs. Ye e r able lies y beeen ese er o neier of which realy a able. O r able g as soeng o is own coponen an also wtrOs behn all is exal ee. ble is an eeiae beng foun neier n subaoc physics nor n han psychology bu a peanen auono ous zone where objec sply eselves An n y view is e genune eang of e wor "subsance which Engon uses oo loosy o refer o able nuber one fun n huan eerience e Arisoeian 10 100 N -100 Tgh 100 N 100
adion, e te "subsance (hyokmnon) refs to e atonomos of individua ings. Ue in Plao, for who ere is one tabe-fDrI in wich coness abs "pci ae, for Ariso each a i its own for: a subsni fo, raer an for exisng oy ro is reaon to a eceiver or soe o ig ight see sage to wave e ag of Aristoe, since he is widy viewed as a borg, iddeaged reaconar whose di eva enforcers were overrow n iberang revouon by escart ad o od But what ost fascinang about Arisoe's con ce of subsance how ch it has in coon i our ird abe, rovided Aristoe is given a roey weird inerretaon Fo on e oe hand, Aristoe does no reduce idiidua tigs downward o ny coonent ices And on he oer hnd, conay to oular belief, he does no reduce subsances uward t what huans can gras of e usig reason er ings aways individuals, bu koedge ony of universas (green, eavy, square), and univ�as bong o any ings8 Tis eans at even for Aristoe, e reaity o ings ies ouide e gras of huan owedge. By ocang e ird abe (and to reeat, tis e only rea tabe) in a sce beween e "abe as arcles and e "tabe n its ees on huans, we have aaren found a tabe at can be veried in no way a whether Gr
8 I to Me pJ Joe S (S Fe, N M
Lon s, 1999)p45
E 11
by science or by tangble eec e human sphere. Yes-and at is precisely e poit. Any philosophy is uwory of e ne it atemps to conver objecs into te condions by whch y can be own or vered Te te phs possibly coined by Pag oras, famously means not "wsdom but "e of wisdom. e real s someng at can not be own, oly loved Ts does not mean tat access to e ble mpossble, oy at it must be indrt Just as eroc spech works when composed of allusion, and nuendo er an of declarave satemes and clearly arclated proposions, and ut as okes or magic cks are easly rned when each of eir steps explaied, g not g less t reales i approach to obje ca oly be obqe We cannot be downwd scen c reducers, nor we be upwrd hisc recers We oly be un of oects, and must even be nonle hter, snce oecs never be caught e world s lled priar ly not wi elcons or hman praxis but wi osy obects wdwg om al hman and ihman access, accessible oly by allusion d seducng us by meas of u. Whatever we cap, whatever table e at or desoy, is not e real table But e rst and second ables bo u ral, en re is a sense in which e o cl tres of C. P Snow are bo falres W hatever 12
I 00 Not - 00 Tgh f 00 Noe 00 ae
e pracal sucesses in er own domans of scinc relis and social consuon is, ey are bo failes as philosophy. s was vviy noted o decades ago Brno Lar, in his faous polc aginst e od e divde eteen nare and ctre9 How ever, ere is a ense n hich Latour retans Edington's rst able (e everyday one), erey expandng i scpe so at lelecons, cartoon characts, and real and conal tables e placed on se foo The reason for at an objet (or "actor) for Lator to be dened oly by how it ansfors, odi es, perrbs, or creates soe oer acto phlosophy, noing is hdden n e deps, sinc evryng is ly deployed in duels and negoaons wi oer By conast, e Philosophy of e rd Tale at I advocate is coied to tables at do exist at a deper level an l possible ansforaons, odi caons, perrbaons, r creaons. I have aso suggested passng at a rd cu correspondng to ird able ight not need to be eate o scac Nor is it scent (o it ay be interes!ng) to awd e rd-tre e to naral scss who happen to brush up aganst phiosophi cal probles, erey e worlds of Eddingons o tables Jo Brockan reec is preudice when he ss, in his oerse fascinang anolgy; at "th rd re
9 I Bo Lou,
H(N Be Mod t.
Ca Pe (Cambg M: Hd Unv 1993 [ o r.1991})
E' 3
consiss of hose sciens ad oer kers in e emprica word who, ou er work and exposiory ing, are ang e place of he aioa neea n renderng visbe he deeper meags of ou ves, rede who d wha we a."lO Far om caing or a ue rd ce, Broca is merey ca ng for a ot vcory of e second, scenc one, ough in somewha seer d ess isc form. A bes, e auors n coeco are ng o make Eddingon's o abes com municae, o hg e eusive abe num-· ber ree eeng om i componens whe wrag om a drec access. Bu as saed earier, i may be arss (n a geres) who bes mee is escrpon For on e one had ar does no ncon by issovg whi whaes, mansions, ra, appes, girs, and ms io er subaoc underpigs Quie obvi ouy; arss do no prode a eory of physi ca reaiy, and ddngons second abe is e as g ey se Bu on e oer hand hey aso do no se e :rs abe, as i merey repcaed he objes of everyday e or sough o creae eec on us. Isead, ere is e aemp o esbish obcs deper an e feares rough which ey a an nouced, or aude o obe ha cao que be made presen. For enies, phosophy has aspre o e condios of a rigorous sci ence, ng isef a vaous mes wih ma 14 I 100 N 100 100 Not 100 Q -
1 I Sh
Boc ed.
rd Ce: y S Ru (Yk Tchsne 1996)
� s lt i e bks e of c i e spirt a chap
.
ecs o descipve psycology. Ye w e cOUepoec of e ne fou cenies wee o pilosopy ino n ? We wold ve "Pilosopy s Vigoous A" e n Husses "Plosopy s Rigoous Science. beng nsfoed o science no n , posopy gins is oigin cce s Eos. soe wys is eo� ode is e b sic spion of objecoine piosopy: e ony wy in e pesen pilosopic cle o do jusce o e of wisdo m no o be n c wisdo G (b 1968 Pfsor o Phsop at te Ac U .
I Gr H
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