Per la prima volta Graham Harman, fondatore dell'ontologia orientata agli oggetti (OOO), tratta insieme e organicamente i temi che gli stanno più a cuore. Frutto di una meditata riflessione riversatasi in altre opere, Arte e oggetti costituisce la base di una nuova estetica, improntata al formalismo, al pluralismo e al realismo. In un mondo popolato da oggetti, la cui dimensione ritratta resta inattingibile, l'osservatore viene sedotto e stupito dal loro fascino. Opponendosi alla critica di matrice relazionistica e olistica, Harman rilegge le avanguardie del Novecento e le attuali forme artistiche. Ispirandosi ai pensatori chiave del formalismo (Kant, Greenberg e Fried), Harman ne elabora una versione weird in salsa OOO, che rilancia il ruolo della bellezza e della teatralità. L'autonomia delle opere d'arte diventa così chiusura che seduce e che spinge lo spettatore a divenire oggetto reale della metafora, sostituendo la banalità del letterale e donando linfa vitale all'esperienza estetica.

Il pensiero moderno occidentale ci ha abituati a credere che solo ciò che percepiamo è reale, che l'essere umano sia al centro del mondo e lo scopo della filosofia sia permetterci di interpretarlo. Graham Harman teorizza una nuova, provocatoria ontologia e in questo saggio, che è il suo manifesto programmatico, sintetizza e spiega i punti chiave del suo pensiero. Al cuore dell'Ontologia Orientata agli Oggetti c'è l'idea che gli oggetti - reali, immaginari, naturali, artificiali, umani e non umani - siano indipendenti gli uni dagli altri e che rientri nei compiti della filosofia indagare la loro interazione, anche quando essa avviene in assenza della percezione umana. Nata negli anni Novanta, l'Ontologia Orientata agli Oggetti dà voce alle istanze e gli interrogativi di questa nostra epoca di smarrimento e incertezza, invitando a superare l'antropocentrismo e ad estendere la riflessione filosofica al di fuori dell'uomo. Questo innovativo modello di pensiero ha saputo infiammare il dibattito culturale degli ultimi anni, trovando applicazione negli ambiti più disparati, dall'ecologia all'arte, e ha avuto una potente eco in particolare nel mondo dell'architettura.

In this book the founder of object-oriented philosophy transforms one of the classic poets of the Western canon, Dante Alighieri, into an edgy stimulus for contemporary continental thought. Focusing his attention onPurgatorio, Harman dissects Dante's theory of sincerity and how this effected the metaphysics ofcommitment found in such later thinkers asPascal, Kierkegaard, Sartre, Badiou and Kant.

“A very well written introductory dermatology text with excellent clinical photographs and diagrams. We would highly recommend this for those wishing to grasp the basic concepts in dermatology.”British Journal of Dermatology

Dermatology Lecture Notes presents an accessible overview of skin structure and function, along with the practical aspects of disease management. Now in its 11th edition, it has been thoroughly updated to focus on recent advances in the knowledge of skin diseases and their treatment. It combines readability with high quality illustrations, and is the ideal guide for new comers to the specialty as well as those more advanced in their studies.

Key features include:

• An overview of the basics of skin structure and function, as well as practical aspects of disease management
• Excellent clinical photographs, diagrams and histological images
• Newly expanded and updated sections on benign skin tumours, viruses, emergency dermatology (skin failure in particular) and vascular disorders
• Includes a companion website at www.lecturenoteseries.com/dermatology featuring self-assessment and case studies

With beautiful colour artwork throughout, Dermatology Lecture Notes includes a glossary of dermatological terms, and provides an excellent balance between theory and clinical relevance.

In this book the founder of object-oriented philosophy deploys his model of objects in the context of social theory. In Part One he outlines an �immaterialist� method to counter the dual reduction linked to the two senses of materialism, which either decomposes entities into their constituent pieces or overdetermines them by way of their relations and effects. Special attention is paid to the virtues and vices of actor-network theory, with the conclusion that ANT needs more focus on the unity, autonomy, and stability of objects, not less as some theorists have proposed.

In Part Two the author makes a case study for an object-oriented social theory: the Dutch East India Company (or �VOC�), wrongly belittled by the philosopher Leibniz as a mere aggregate rather than a genuine thing. The VOC qualifies for objecthood neither through �what it is� nor �what it does�, but through its irreducibility to either of these forms of knowledge. As with any object, the story of the VOC is not exhausted by what it did or might have done. The phases of its life are not demarcated primarily by dramatic incidents, but by moments of symbiosis, a term drawn from the biologist Lynn Margulis.

This book provides a counterpoint to the now ubiquitous social theories of constant change, holistic networks, performative identities, and the construction of things by human practice. It will appeal to anyone interested in cutting-edge debates in philosophy and social and cultural theory.

In this book the founder of object-oriented philosophy deploys his model of objects in the context of social theory. In Part One he outlines an �immaterialist� method to counter the dual reduction linked to the two senses of materialism, which either decomposes entities into their constituent pieces or overdetermines them by way of their relations and effects. Special attention is paid to the virtues and vices of actor-network theory, with the conclusion that ANT needs more focus on the unity, autonomy, and stability of objects, not less as some theorists have proposed.

In Part Two the author makes a case study for an object-oriented social theory: the Dutch East India Company (or �VOC�), wrongly belittled by the philosopher Leibniz as a mere aggregate rather than a genuine thing. The VOC qualifies for objecthood neither through �what it is� nor �what it does�, but through its irreducibility to either of these forms of knowledge. As with any object, the story of the VOC is not exhausted by what it did or might have done. The phases of its life are not demarcated primarily by dramatic incidents, but by moments of symbiosis, a term drawn from the biologist Lynn Margulis.

This book provides a counterpoint to the now ubiquitous social theories of constant change, holistic networks, performative identities, and the construction of things by human practice. It will appeal to anyone interested in cutting-edge debates in philosophy and social and cultural theory.

In this diverse collection of sixteen essays, lectures, and interviews Graham Harman lucidly explains the principles of Speculative Realism, including his own object-oriented philosophy.

As Hölderlin was to Martin Heidegger and Mallarmé to Jacques Derrida, so is H.P. Lovecraft to the Speculative Realist philosophers.

In this book the metaphysical system of Graham Harman is presented in lucid form, aided by helpful diagrams. In Chapter 1, Harman gives his most forceful critique to date of philosophies that reject objects as a primary reality.

It is impossible to understand Palestine today without a careful reading of its distant and recent past. But until now there has been no single volume in English that tells the history of the events--from the Ottoman Empire to the mid-twentieth century--that shaped modern Palestine. The first book of its kind, A History of Palestine offers a richly detailed interpretation of this critical region's evolution.

Starting with the prebiblical and biblical roots of Palestine, noted historian Gudrun Krämer examines the meanings ascribed to the land in the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions. Paying special attention to social and economic factors, she examines the gradual transformation of Palestine, following the history of the region through the Egyptian occupation of the mid-nineteenth century, the Ottoman reform era, and the British Mandate up to the founding of Israel in 1948. Focusing on the interactions of Arabs and Jews, A History of Palestine tells how these connections affected the cultural and political evolution of each community and Palestine as a whole.

These writings chart Harman's rise from Chicago sportswriter to co-founder of one of Europe's most promising philosophical movements: Speculative Realism. This fascinating collection of eleven essays and lectures from 1997 to 2009, anchored by Harman's rebellious transformation of Heideggerian philosophy, shows the evolution of his object-oriented metaphysics from its early days into an increasingly developed philosophical position

With grace, wit, and a remarkable inventiveness Harman invites us to return to basic philosophical questions. Whether or not one agrees with Harman's conclusions his work will be an inspiration for many. Martin Hagglund, Harvard University, author of Radical Atheism

must read for scholars interested in metaphysics, philosophy or science studies: Myra Hird, Queen's University, Canada, author of The Origins of Sociable Life