Maurizio Ferraris
Università di Torino, Lettere e filosofia, Faculty Member
- Labont: laboratory for ontology, Department of Philosophy, University of Turin, Department Memberadd
Il mito del dato La filosofia del Novecento si è caratterizzata per una prevalenza dell’analisi. Quello che c’è, l’ontologia, ci viene detto dalle scienze naturali (singolare definizione, osserva a giusto titolo Grant: ci sono forse delle... more
Il mito del dato La filosofia del Novecento si è caratterizzata per una prevalenza dell’analisi. Quello che c’è, l’ontologia, ci viene detto dalle scienze naturali (singolare definizione, osserva a giusto titolo Grant: ci sono forse delle scienze innaturali?). La filosofia deve limitarsi ad analizzare, a scomporre il già dato, sia esso il linguaggio o la totalità, per ridurre a frammenti, pezzettini, sottigliezze che – passata l’epoca gloriosa della critica delle tronfie vacuità della filosof..
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In this paper, I try to highlight what I call the “documedia revolution” i.e. the outcome of the changes we are witnessing in our times. Documediality indicates the allegiance between the constitutive power of documents and the mobilizing... more
In this paper, I try to highlight what I call the “documedia revolution” i.e.
the outcome of the changes we are witnessing in our times. Documediality indicates the allegiance between the constitutive power of documents and the mobilizing power of media (and new media, in particular). I propose to outline this great transformation, showing how we moved from capital to documediality, passing through mediality.
These are three fundamental phases we passed through as human kind, with different features and manifestations. I aim at showing that our times commodities are documents and that labour we do is a kind of mobilization. This kind of changes ask for a different point of view able to focus on recognition (instead of sustenance), self-affirmation (instead of alienation), and atomization (instead of classification).
the outcome of the changes we are witnessing in our times. Documediality indicates the allegiance between the constitutive power of documents and the mobilizing power of media (and new media, in particular). I propose to outline this great transformation, showing how we moved from capital to documediality, passing through mediality.
These are three fundamental phases we passed through as human kind, with different features and manifestations. I aim at showing that our times commodities are documents and that labour we do is a kind of mobilization. This kind of changes ask for a different point of view able to focus on recognition (instead of sustenance), self-affirmation (instead of alienation), and atomization (instead of classification).
Research Interests: Web 2.0 and Capitalismo
“The Universal Blackboard”, in A. Kanev (ed.), New Realism. Problems and Perspetives, Sofia: St. Kliment Ohridski University Press 2019: 63-72
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The present paper attempts to present the nature of the documedial revolution, as well as the value of documedial capital for 21st century societies. Through an analysis of the fundamental concepts of communism (work, alienation, surplus... more
The present paper attempts to present the nature of the documedial revolution, as well as the value of documedial capital for 21st century societies. Through an analysis of the fundamental concepts of communism (work, alienation, surplus value, etc.) we want to understand the fact that many of the ideals proposed by Marx find their realization in technologized and globalized societies. In the same way, we expose the deficiencies of both capitalism and communism in their categorization of capital. Finally, an attempt is made to understand the political phenomena of populism and fascism in the light of the theorization of the documedial revolution in order to prevent the new panoptic from paralysing authentic democracy.
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In this paper, I assume that, if knowledge does not refer to something other than itself, the words ‘subject’, ‘object’, ‘epistemology’, ‘ontology’, ‘knowledge’ and ‘reflection’ would be meaningless. I define the transcendental fallacy as... more
In this paper, I assume that, if knowledge does not refer to
something other than itself, the words ‘subject’, ‘object’,
‘epistemology’, ‘ontology’, ‘knowledge’ and ‘reflection’ would be
meaningless. I define the transcendental fallacy as involving faith
in the existence of a spirit independent from matter, capable of
producing representations and things. In terms of matter and
memory, the fact that the past is repeated by matter is even more
important than the fact that it is recalled by memory, because
without matter there would be no memory and no ability to
remember. I remind the reader that only individuals exist and that
the first character of individuals is that they are external with
respect to others. Finally, I consider how epistemology should be
considered in terms of Pentecostal meaning and emergent
meaning: Pentecostal meaning follows the path Meaning →
Expression → Inscription. Emergent meaning goes from
Inscription → Expression → Meaning.
something other than itself, the words ‘subject’, ‘object’,
‘epistemology’, ‘ontology’, ‘knowledge’ and ‘reflection’ would be
meaningless. I define the transcendental fallacy as involving faith
in the existence of a spirit independent from matter, capable of
producing representations and things. In terms of matter and
memory, the fact that the past is repeated by matter is even more
important than the fact that it is recalled by memory, because
without matter there would be no memory and no ability to
remember. I remind the reader that only individuals exist and that
the first character of individuals is that they are external with
respect to others. Finally, I consider how epistemology should be
considered in terms of Pentecostal meaning and emergent
meaning: Pentecostal meaning follows the path Meaning →
Expression → Inscription. Emergent meaning goes from
Inscription → Expression → Meaning.
Social objects originate from constitutive rules. But there are two ways of explaining the relationship between them. I call them " Manifest Image " and " Deep Image ". The former depends on Searle's interpretation of social reality and... more
Social objects originate from constitutive rules. But there are two ways of explaining the relationship between them. I call them " Manifest Image " and " Deep Image ". The former depends on Searle's interpretation of social reality and it is based on collective intentionality; the latter is the one I support and it is based on documentality. Indeed, recordings and documents are sufficient to explain how and why social world exists. There is no need to use such a vague notion, as that of collective intentionality, in order to give a useful account of society. Documents can do it better, especially with the help of the process called emergence, as the case of money clearly shows.
Taking aesthetics as epistemology (in agreement with Emilio Garroni's perspective) means taking aesthetics as teleology, namely as the need for knowledge to attribute a purpose to what is known. Art has the ability to anticipate these... more
Taking aesthetics as epistemology (in agreement with Emilio Garroni's perspective) means taking aesthetics as teleology, namely as the need for knowledge to attribute a purpose to what is known. Art has the ability to anticipate these purposes, letting them emerge even if there is insufficient evidence.
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To design does not mean to give color to ideas onto a preeminently bi-dimensional surface, but rather to produce effects – positive, if possible – within a world that is three-dimensional. In this perspective it will be necessary to... more
To design does not mean to give color to ideas onto a preeminently bi-dimensional surface, but rather to produce effects – positive, if possible – within a world that is three-dimensional. In this perspective it will be necessary to assume as its constitutive (and not accidental) characteristic, the project's propensity to fail, to deviate, to change, to collude. In other words, we must admit the systematic unpredictability of those effects that we wish to achieve. In morals, just as in architecture, it is not true that we have intentions that can later be ratified by documents. The opposite is true: we first receive a documental formation (rites, education), and only later what we have received can be translated into intentionality. To not consider this does not only engender a misunderstanding, but – in fact – a removal: a removal of the documental dimension of the project as a symptom of a larger and more decisive removal, that of technique.
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The paper considers three uses of the real in literature that bear witness to what I would call " prevalence " of the real as the ultimate otherness. The first concerns the way in which the real bursts into fiction; the latter does indeed... more
The paper considers three uses of the real in literature that bear witness to what I would call " prevalence " of the real as the ultimate otherness. The first concerns the way in which the real bursts into fiction; the latter does indeed draw from the former details and surprises little accessible to imagination. The second is the way in which sometimes the pretext of fiction is used to mitigate the consequences of its claims; this mode is the strongest evidence of the extent to which fiction is steeped in reality. The third refers to the postmodern world, in which theory itself purported to be literaturised; certain statements (otherwise false or morally serious) are possible in such a theoretical context since the postmodern discourse theorizes the loss of the distinction between reality and fiction, and between philosophy and literature. The thread that unites these three ways to represent the relationship between fiction and reality is that all three of them are represented in the contemporary cultural landscape. The minimalist moral that can be drawn from this is therefore that realism – as well as anti-realism – is said in many ways that are not always transparent.
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Contrary to what is usually said following Benjamin, the art of the Twentieth century is not characterised by a " loss of aura " due to the loss of the uniqueness of works of art but, precisely in the opposite way, it features an... more
Contrary to what is usually said following Benjamin, the art of the Twentieth century is not characterised by a " loss of aura " due to the loss of the uniqueness of works of art but, precisely in the opposite way, it features an unprecedented hyper-auratisation, due to the hyper-conceptual quality of art. This essay aims at isolating the theoretical and historical coordinates of this paradoxical process, as it constitutes the presupposition of every discourse on contemporary art, where it is more or less assumed that the artistic world is the generator of works of art, being therefore the place where aura is produced and conferred. and that this aura could validly replace beauty in the role of " aesthetic identifier " of the work of art, which I now suggest (to distinguish it from the works of art of tradition that still dwelled in the system of fine arts, and had to be identified by beauty) we call work of aura.
Research Interests: Ontology and Aesthetics
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The idea that the Avant-garde and Classicism are placed at the antipodes of art history is a commonly accepted opinion. However, a deeper analysis proves it to be inconsistent and superficial. The key features of the contemporary artwork... more
The idea that the Avant-garde and Classicism are placed at the antipodes of art history is a commonly accepted opinion. However, a deeper analysis proves it to be inconsistent and superficial. The key features of the contemporary artwork are normally taken to be the " dogma of aesthetic indifference " – that is, the decision to abandon the canon of ideal beauty – and the centrality of the artwork's conceptual meaning at the expense of form and technique. Yet, these categories turn out to be familiar even to the classical world – no stranger to the interest towards the bad and the grotesque – and to ancient art, which was radically conceptual (think of the pyramids or Stonehenge). So the classical approach reveals its closeness to the modern, and the latter – in its sacral seriality, in its transfiguration of the common object into art and in its consecration of the museum – reveals its closeness to Classicism. Classicism (it turns out) is very hard to be actually done away with.
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Encyclopedia entries, bets, gains and losses, research projects, books, lessons, relationships, votes, credits, exams certificates, exams, records, academic degrees, students, professors, art works and consumerist literature, cathedrae,... more
Encyclopedia entries, bets, gains and losses, research projects, books, lessons, relationships, votes, credits, exams certificates, exams, records, academic degrees, students, professors, art works and consumerist literature, cathedrae, aulas, application forms, hiring, revolutions, work-shops, conferences, dismissals, unions, parliaments, stock societies, laws, restaurants, money, property, governments, marriages, elections, games, cocktail parties, tribunals, lawyers, wars, humanitarian missions, voting, promises, buying and selling, prosecutors, physicians, perpetrators, taxes, vacation, medieval soldiers, presidents. What are all those objects made of? And, first of all, are they objects? Some philosophers would say they are not, since––according to them––only physical objects exist. Other philosophers would dare say that even physical objects are socially constructed, since they are the result of our theories. For real, thus, the world would be Prospero’s world: We are such stuff / As dreams are made on and our little life / Is rounded with a sleep. That is not the case, though: social objects exist indeed, the proof being the difference between thinking to promise something, and actually promising something: once you give your word, the promise keeps on existing, even in case you forget about it, or––as more frequently happens––you change your mind.
The first aim of this article is to expand on the nature of social objects, as contrasted with physical and ideal objects, and to spell out the steps that lead to their discovery. Secondly, I will illustrate and criticize the major contemporary theory on social objects, John Searle’s theory, and compare it with another theory, according to which social objects are a kind of inscription. Lastly, I want show how, from this standpoint, a social ontology evolves naturally into a theory of documents, which I propose to name “documentality”.
The first aim of this article is to expand on the nature of social objects, as contrasted with physical and ideal objects, and to spell out the steps that lead to their discovery. Secondly, I will illustrate and criticize the major contemporary theory on social objects, John Searle’s theory, and compare it with another theory, according to which social objects are a kind of inscription. Lastly, I want show how, from this standpoint, a social ontology evolves naturally into a theory of documents, which I propose to name “documentality”.
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The present note is not a discussion of Collier’s theses, with which I mostly agree, but rather a gloss, an attempt to reconstruct and, if possible, integrate and translate them into my own language.
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The aim of this article is to illustrate new realism and its position with regard to modern and contemporary philosophy and its transcendental turn. I will posit that new realism, while being very well aware of this turn (followed in... more
The aim of this article is to illustrate new realism and its position with regard to modern and contemporary philosophy and its transcendental turn. I will posit that new realism, while being very well aware of this turn (followed in particular by postmodern thinkers), rejects it: in fact, from a realist perspective, the existence of ancestral beings, existing long before humans, proves that reality cannot be regarded as a correlate of human thought.
I will therefore refute the theory of the dependency of reality on thought, positing that thought emerges from reality itself and arguing that the main problem with anti-realism stems from a twofold confusion: between ontology and epistemology on one side, and between natural objects and social objects on the other. I will also provide the main features of the new realist theory through the key concepts of unamendability (for which, negatively, reality resists our conceptual schemes) and affordance (for which reality also tells us, positively, something about itself). Finally, I will sketch the most important outlines of my theory of documentality, according to which inscribed acts are the basis of social reality.
I will therefore refute the theory of the dependency of reality on thought, positing that thought emerges from reality itself and arguing that the main problem with anti-realism stems from a twofold confusion: between ontology and epistemology on one side, and between natural objects and social objects on the other. I will also provide the main features of the new realist theory through the key concepts of unamendability (for which, negatively, reality resists our conceptual schemes) and affordance (for which reality also tells us, positively, something about itself). Finally, I will sketch the most important outlines of my theory of documentality, according to which inscribed acts are the basis of social reality.
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"TRANSCENDENTAL REALISM" - draft - Monist "New Realism".
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In societies with a non-elementary degree of complexity, we find institutions, social roles, promises, marriages, corporations, enterprises, and the large variety of what we can label “social objects”. On the one hand, we commonly speak... more
In societies with a non-elementary degree of complexity, we find institutions, social roles, promises, marriages, corporations, enterprises, and the large variety of what we can label “social objects”. On the one hand, we commonly speak and think of such entities as if they existed on a par with entities such as tables and persons. On the other hand, there is a clear link between what people think and how people behave and the social domain. We argue that the widespread “reductionist” approach in social ontology fails to account for both those aspects of social reality, and put forward a new approach. The main idea is that a particular kind of social objects, namely documents – and more
generally records of social acts – are the ground of social reality. The fundamental difference from the reductionist approach is that the content of collective intentions will turn out to be not so important in accounting for the ontological variety of complex
social realities such as ours.
generally records of social acts – are the ground of social reality. The fundamental difference from the reductionist approach is that the content of collective intentions will turn out to be not so important in accounting for the ontological variety of complex
social realities such as ours.
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Draft
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As we read in Ecce Homo, ‘The basic conception of the work — the thought of eternal recurrence, this highest attainable formula of affirmation — belongs to the August of 1881: it was dashed off on a sheet of paper with the caption “6,000... more
As we read in Ecce Homo, ‘The basic conception of the work — the thought of eternal recurrence, this highest attainable formula of affirmation — belongs to the August of 1881: it was dashed off on a sheet of paper with the caption “6,000 feet beyond man and time.”’1 On the 14th August 1881, from Sils, Nietzsche wrote to Gast saying he had undergone a profound spiritual transformation as a result of a vision he had at the beginning of the month in Silvaplana, four kilometres from Sils.
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This paper sets out four fundamental theses. The first (REALITYSM) is the critique of the postmodern hypothesis according to which all reality is socially constructed, a thesis that led to a distorted conception of the media as... more
This paper sets out four fundamental theses. The first (REALITYSM) is the
critique of the postmodern hypothesis according to which all reality is socially constructed, a thesis that led to a distorted conception of the media as omnipotent manufacturers of reality. The second (NEW REALISM) is the thesis that there is a fundamental layer of reality that not only exists independently of the media, but also of the mind. The third (DOCUMENTALITY) proposes an ontology that accounts for the
construction of social objects as dependent on recording, a function to be considered as superordinate both with respect to the media and to the construction of reality as a whole. The fourth (EMERGENCE) asserts that intentionality and normativity are a product of documentality and therefore also of the media as part of it.
critique of the postmodern hypothesis according to which all reality is socially constructed, a thesis that led to a distorted conception of the media as omnipotent manufacturers of reality. The second (NEW REALISM) is the thesis that there is a fundamental layer of reality that not only exists independently of the media, but also of the mind. The third (DOCUMENTALITY) proposes an ontology that accounts for the
construction of social objects as dependent on recording, a function to be considered as superordinate both with respect to the media and to the construction of reality as a whole. The fourth (EMERGENCE) asserts that intentionality and normativity are a product of documentality and therefore also of the media as part of it.
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“A common family of arguments, inspired by Wittgenstein's famous remarks about games, has it that the phenomena of art are, by their nature, too diverse to admit of the unification that a satisfactory definition strives for, or that a... more
“A common family of arguments, inspired by Wittgenstein's famous remarks about games, has it that the phenomena of art are, by their nature, too diverse to admit of the unification that a satisfactory definition strives for, or that a definition of art, were there to be such a thing, would
exert a stifling influence on artistic creativity.” Thus spoke the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ad vocem “The Definition of Art”. In what follows, I will try to show that it is not uneasy at all to find not the definition of art, but the definition of the kind of game played by art.
This game is the game of documents1, and artwork is a kind of document.
exert a stifling influence on artistic creativity.” Thus spoke the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ad vocem “The Definition of Art”. In what follows, I will try to show that it is not uneasy at all to find not the definition of art, but the definition of the kind of game played by art.
This game is the game of documents1, and artwork is a kind of document.
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The topic I wish to develop in this essay concerns the nexus between technology, violence and writing. My analysis will be structured in five scansions. The first will concentrate on the essence of technology, defined as recording. The... more
The topic I wish to develop in this essay concerns the nexus between
technology, violence and writing. My analysis will be structured in five scansions. The first will concentrate on the essence of technology, defined as recording. The second will examine the effects of technology, which I propose to recognize in mobilization. The third concentrates on the meaning of technology, which I propose to recognize in a revelation. The fourth and fifth scansions, which aim to demonstrate how the actions of technology, and especially its fundamental resource, recording, are
at the basis of spiritually relevant achievements, such as authenticity and
responsibility.
technology, violence and writing. My analysis will be structured in five scansions. The first will concentrate on the essence of technology, defined as recording. The second will examine the effects of technology, which I propose to recognize in mobilization. The third concentrates on the meaning of technology, which I propose to recognize in a revelation. The fourth and fifth scansions, which aim to demonstrate how the actions of technology, and especially its fundamental resource, recording, are
at the basis of spiritually relevant achievements, such as authenticity and
responsibility.
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It is the night between Saturday and Sunday, the night that is traditionally consecrated to rest. In the dead of night, I wake up. I want to see what time it is and I obviously check it on the cell phone, which tells me that it is three... more
It is the night between Saturday and Sunday, the night that is traditionally
consecrated to rest. In the dead of night, I wake up. I want to see what time it is and I obviously check it on the cell phone, which tells me that it is three o' clock. But, at the same time, I notice that someone has sent me an email. I cannot resist the curiosity, or better the anxiety, (the mail concerns a matter of work), and that's it: I read it and reply. I am suddenly working on Saturday night, no matter where I am. The Internet is an empire on which the sun never sets, and having a smartphone in your pocket means having the world in your hand, but it also automatically means being in the hands of the world: at all times a request can reach us, and at all times we will be responsible for dealing with it.
This is a total mobilization.
consecrated to rest. In the dead of night, I wake up. I want to see what time it is and I obviously check it on the cell phone, which tells me that it is three o' clock. But, at the same time, I notice that someone has sent me an email. I cannot resist the curiosity, or better the anxiety, (the mail concerns a matter of work), and that's it: I read it and reply. I am suddenly working on Saturday night, no matter where I am. The Internet is an empire on which the sun never sets, and having a smartphone in your pocket means having the world in your hand, but it also automatically means being in the hands of the world: at all times a request can reach us, and at all times we will be responsible for dealing with it.
This is a total mobilization.
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Immanuel Kant said that the character of art consists in making people think. But what thoughts are aroused by works such as Brillo Box or Duchamp’s urinal? The aim of the present essay is to analyse art, and conceptual art in particular,... more
Immanuel Kant said that the character of art consists in making people think. But what thoughts are aroused by works such as Brillo Box or Duchamp’s urinal? The aim of the present essay is to analyse art, and conceptual art in particular, in the light of new realism and documentality, arguing for the contemporary prevalence of works of aura over works of art and for the mainly legal nature of conceptual art. The rejection of beauty, I will claim, is due to the separation of art from matter and perception, and of aesthetics from its original meaning of aisthesis.
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"Introduction to New Realism" provides an overview of the movement of contemporary thought named New Realism, by its creator and most celebrated practitioner, Maurizio Ferraris. Sharing significant concerns and features with Speculative... more
"Introduction to New Realism" provides an overview of the movement of contemporary thought named New Realism, by its creator and most celebrated practitioner, Maurizio Ferraris. Sharing significant concerns and features with Speculative Realism and Object Oriented Ontology, New Realism can be said to be one of the most prescient philosophical positions today. Its desire to overcome the postmodern antirealism of Kantian origin, and to reassert the importance of truth and objectivity in the name of a new Enlightenment, has had an enormous resonance both in Europe and in the US. Introduction to New Realism is the first volume dedicated to exposing this continental movement to an anglophone audience.
Featuring a foreword by the eminent contemporary philosopher and leading exponent of Speculative Realism, Iain Hamilton Grant, the book begins by tracing the genesis of New Realism, and outlining its central theoretical tenets, before opening onto three distinct sections. The first, 'Negativity', is a critique of the postmodern idea that the world is constructed by our conceptual schemas, all the more so as we have entered the age of digitality and virtuality. The second thesis, 'positivity', proposes the fundamental ontological assertion of New Realism, namely that not only are there parts of reality that are independent of thought, but these parts are also able to act causally over thought and the human world. The third thesis, 'normativity,' applies New Realism to the sphere of the social world. Finally, an afterword written by two young scholars explains in more detail the relationship between New Realism and other forms of contemporary realism.
Featuring a foreword by the eminent contemporary philosopher and leading exponent of Speculative Realism, Iain Hamilton Grant, the book begins by tracing the genesis of New Realism, and outlining its central theoretical tenets, before opening onto three distinct sections. The first, 'Negativity', is a critique of the postmodern idea that the world is constructed by our conceptual schemas, all the more so as we have entered the age of digitality and virtuality. The second thesis, 'positivity', proposes the fundamental ontological assertion of New Realism, namely that not only are there parts of reality that are independent of thought, but these parts are also able to act causally over thought and the human world. The third thesis, 'normativity,' applies New Realism to the sphere of the social world. Finally, an afterword written by two young scholars explains in more detail the relationship between New Realism and other forms of contemporary realism.
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John Searle’s is the most accredited contemporary social ontology. In the following pages I propose integrating his perspective, according to which the genesis of social reality depends on the action of an undetermined "collective... more
John Searle’s is the most accredited contemporary social ontology. In the following pages I propose integrating his perspective, according to which the genesis of social reality depends on the action of an undetermined "collective intentionality", with the perspective of what I call »documentality«, namely the idea that the ori- gin of social reality depends on the fixing of actions and intentions onto documents.