Harman's style often evokes that of a William James merged with the
spirit of H.P. Lovecraft. Olivier Surel in Actu PhilosophiaIn 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. All such rejections are tainted by either an undermining or
overmining approach to objects. In Chapters 2 and 3, he reviews his
concepts of sensual and real objects. In the process, he attacks the
prestige normally granted to philosophies of human access, which Harman
links for the first time to the already discredited Menos Paradox. In
Chapters 4 through 7, Harman brings the reader up to speed on his
interpretation of Heidegger, which culminates in a fourfold structure of
objects linked by indirect causation. In Chapter 8, he speculates on the
implications of this theory for the debate over panpsychism, which
Harman both embraces and rejects. In Chapters 9 and 10, he introduces
the term ontography as the study of the different possible permutations
of objects and qualities, which he simplifies with easily remembered
terminology drawn from standard playing cards.
