Dark Panpsychism: Philip Goff and Pandemonism

In his Nautilus article ‘The Universe Knows Right from Wrong’, Philipp Goff argues that panpsychism – the metaphysical thesis that the intrinsic properties of reality are properties of consciousness or ‘feels’ (or proto-phenomena, proto-feels) provides a metaphysical ground for objective truth about value. He argues that panpsychism affords an explanation for our ability to discern […]

Limits of Posthuman Democracy

From Posthuman Life, pp. 178-9 ‘[differences in phenomenology] can be significant obstructions to our understanding without being impassable barriers. It follows that the situation following phenomenological speciation might not preclude interpretation where it is technically possible to adapt human phenomenology to cope with posthuman phenomenology (See sections 5.5, 5.7). In extreme cases, no available technology […]

Note on Cosmic Insignificance

  Inspired by Michael Hausekeller’s piece “Guy Kahane on our Cosmic Significance “ I tend to think that cosmic horror writers like Lovecraft and Ligotti articulate the idea of cosmic insignificance far better than professional philosophers. Why should the vast extent of space and time inspire horror? Well, our lack of power implies an inability […]

Art and Posthumanism

This is an abstract for a presentation that I will be giving in a roundtable discussion on posthumanism and aesthetics with Debra Benita Shaw and Stefan Sorgner at the University of East London on May 18 2015. Further details will be made available. Posthumanism can be critical or speculative. These positions converge in opposing human-centred […]

Hyperapocalypse: A Hole in the Space of Reasons?

Continuing the “dark” posthumanism strand from recent blog posts and from my book Posthuman Life: Philosophy at the Edge of the Human (Routledge 2014), I argue that we cannot extend our moral thinking to certain portions of “posthuman possibility space” because our folk psychology and parochial norms of practical reasoning might not apply to “hyperplastic” […]

Dialogue on the Anthropocene between Claire Colebrook and Cary Wolfe

Here Link to the Anthropocene Project

Synthetic Biology Tutorial

Anyone thinking of trying it at home. See here. For DIY Synthbio page see here.  

So What’s Wrong with Humanism Anyway?

  I feel like a humanist fellow traveller because I am quite obviously some sort of humanist. Many who call themselves “humanists” support ethical positions I sign up to. A slack religious schooling has left me with a distaste for sublimated theocrats who attack secularism on grounds of cultural autonomy. The slick misanthropy of Lars von […]

So What's Wrong with Humanism Anyway?

  I feel like a humanist fellow traveller because I am quite obviously some sort of humanist. Many who call themselves “humanists” support ethical positions I sign up to. A slack religious schooling has left me with a distaste for sublimated theocrats who attack secularism on grounds of cultural autonomy. The slick misanthropy of Lars von […]

Superheroes With Dirty Hands

  Alan Moore’s graphic novel Watchmen (filmed back in 2009 by Zack Snyder) is an anti- superhero tale about super anti-heroes. Some of these ‘costumed adventurers’ are obsessives driven by the thrill of dressing up and breaking heads; others are co-opted by political interests or have shadowy agendas of their own. The Watchman known as […]