The Spectricity of Humanness: Spectral Ontology and Being-in-the-World

236 Pages·2022·1.347 MB·English

by  Zachary Isrow

Zachary Isrow
The Spectricity of Humanness

Zachary Isrow
The Spectricity
of Humanness
Spectral Ontology and Being-in-the-World
ISBN 978-3-11-069092-7
e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-069099-6
e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-069114-6
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022938366
Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;
detailed bibliographic data are available on the internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.
© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Cover image: Nataliia Yankovets / iStock / Getty Images Plus
Printing and binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck
www.degruyter.com
Man’s relations to man do not captivate my fancy. It is man’s relation to the
cosmos – to the unknown – which alone arouses in me the spark of creative
imagination.
– H.P Lovecraft (2007, p.56)
Ilestdangereuxd’avoirraisondansdeschosesoùdeshommesaccréditésonttort.
– Voltaire (1817,p.1071)

Acknowledgements
Thereareplentyofthosewhomdeserverecognitionfortheirsupportinthework-
ingof this manuscript. I offer them sincerest thanks below:
Toallmycolleaguesandfriendspastandpresentwhohaveshapedmyway
ofthinkingbothbylisteningandbychallenging–itcanonlyeverservetoben-
efit.ThoughtherearetoomanyofyoutonameIwouldespeciallyliketothank:
Frank Karioris, Aflie Bown, Rosangela Barcaro, James Besse, Nathan Wiley.
Tomyadvisors,professorsandteacherswho,taughtmewhatIknow,which
so ever often was at odds with what I thought I knew, and who pushed me to
continuetoexpandmyambitions:JasonTroka,AndrewOrgler,GrahamHarman,
MarkWalter,RokSvetlic,WendyDoniger,DavidTracy,MichaelTurner,Jean-Luc
Nancy, Lenart Skof, and Janko Lozar.
TomyfamilywhomademewhoIam,butwhoalwaysencouragedmetonot
settleforthatstateofbeing,buttoratherbewhoIwantedtobeandtoalwaysdo
my best.
Aboveall,however,IwishtoacknowledgemywifeKarolinaforunwavering
encouragement. For this I note:
Inaworldofbillions,ifIhadnevermetyou,Iwouldmostcertainlyhavemet
someoneelsetoliveoutmydayswith;howgrateful,then,amI,thatitwasour
paths which have crossed with each other amongst all the others.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110690996-001

Contents
Preface XIII
Introduction 1
Chapter One
The Rise of the Speculative and the Problem of Humanness 11
Speculative Realism and The Problem of Emergence 12
Correlationism, Relations, and Emergence 18
Speculative Nominalism 21
Chapter Two
Dethroning the Speculative 26
Object-Oriented Ontology as Nominalistic 28
Non-Flat Models 31
Focus on Universals 32
Re-enter Relationality, Correlationism Revived 34
Chapter Three
The Search for the Grounding of Metaphysics 39
The Problem of a Complete Ontology 42
Fundamental Ontology asa Groundwork for a Future
Metaphysics 43
The problem of the source of Fundamental Ontology 45
Chapter Four
The Ontical Modes of Dasein 47
Finitude 49
Nonfinitude 55
A Commentary on the Limits of Pure Reason as Opposed to Sensible
Reason and the Nonfinite Nature of Pure Reason 75
Chapter Five
The Ontological Modes of Dasein 77
Infinitude 77
Transcendental 81
X Contents
Chapter Six
Metaphysics ofDasein 92
The Worlds of Dasein 92
World in Kant 93
The Worlds of Kantian Thought as Articulated through the
Antinomies 95
Kantian Worlds Overview 98
The Two Worlds Interpretation 99
The Two Aspects Interpretation 103
The Two Relations Interpretation 106
Chapter Seven
Heidegger’s Being-in-the-World 113
Attunement and Care 115
The Way Which We Relate to the World: Ready-to-Hand vs. Present-at-
Hand 118
Chapter Eight
The Systematic Expression of Humanness 124
Exposition on the Origin and Implementation of the Question of
Humanness 126
The Historical Articulation of the Question of Humanness 128
The Analytic of Humanness as Differentiated from The Existential
Analytic of Dasein 130
Elucidation of Being 132
Beginning the Question of Being 132
Being as Nothingness 135
Being as Nature 137
Being as World 139
Being as Worldhood 142
Unveiling the Categorization of Beings in the World 143
Subject-Object Orientation (Tools) 144
Object Orientation 148
Object-oriented ontology 152
World 153
World Itself 158
Chapter Nine
The Systematic Transcendental of Humanness 162
A Case for the Distinctiveness Between Worlds 163