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Writtenology: Hyperobjects (Patreon)

Published:
2023-05-02 16:20:46
Imported:
2026-06

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Content

Welcome to the first luxury $10 episode of Writtenology, the series within a series where Alice and I talk about a book one of us read. This time, we discussed Timothy Morton's 2013 book Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology After the End of the World. In it we wonder how theories of the overwhelming problems of our age end up being depoliticised, and when you take off the philosophical masks, what's left is Old Man Power.

Comments

Frogposting

Really enjoyed the episode and very much agree with your takes on the shortcomings of object oriented ontology (as someone who engaged with it professionally for a while). I think a lot of the ahistoricity is due to the relation between the object oriented ontology people and the French intellectual tradition which sort of runs through althusser and lacan to people like Badiou (and maybe Deleuze in earlier work like 'logics of sense') where there is a distinct fascination with formalisms and more importantly with the event, which is sort of seen as a pure rupture. There's a real desire to theorise about the event as such, rather than as something that happens in historically contingent circumstances. I think it reflects a desire not dissimilar to that of certain scientistic tendencies to show that the sphere of human action is not one of intentional explanation, a kind of rejection of voluntarism. I think that's also why Morton's solution is basically just that of the late Heidegger: you just gotta sit around and wait for a god to save us, and all you can do is foster a state of readiness to receive that god. There's a reason why there's a sort of family resemblance (and various intellectual links) between the object oriented ontology people and people like Land. I think it reflects the fact that it's not really of the left-wing intellectual tradition in various ways.

The MILF Formerly Known as Tzippi

Okay, it's entirely possible that I'm just stupid, but it sounds to me like ya boi Tim Concepts discovered second and third-order effects? Which is just consequences. Good job, Timmy, how many pages did it take to get us there?

Bethany Fine

The only usefulness of Hyperconcept is as a revelation of the arrogance of unlimited data visibility being used as a soporific against the start of the *long parody beep*. As long as we believe we can see all of it, there’s no need for *long parody beep*. I like Morton’s work on Romantic poets and the physical body as a dimensional construction. This one felt like baby’s first phenomenology.

Karl Åström

Damnit Alice, I already have a little thing in my head that goes du-duuu du-dudu every time I hear the word phenomenon. Now it's going to trigger for "the noumenon" as well! Ok, to be fair, that's going to be a much rarer occurrence but still... And no. I'm NOT going to delete this comment. 😛

Dominic Preciso

Hyperobjects through the lense of Katamari Damacy. Let's go!

teno

Definitely wasn't smart enough for most of this one, but I'm glad you brought me along for the ride (finally upgrading to luxury tier for Writtenology). And thanks to Alice for the In Bruges reference, at least got the "I know where that's from" endorphin hit on something 😀

Clare Patterson

feel like a good definition of a hyperobject is “something you can’t rotate in your mind”

Clare Patterson

Also I feel like Morton’s idea of hyperobjects makes sense on an affective level more than anything else, which I think is what you’re getting at with “hyperobjects explain climate anxiety in the west”. Andreas Malm’s critique of Morton in How To Blow Up A Pipeline is good as well, and I think pretty in line with what Alice is saying - idk if you’re thinking about covering that book but would be interested to hear what you think of it.

dc

Any time a philosopher compares something to quantum entanglement they should get slapped in the face. Use similes and metaphors to compare unfamiliar to familiar things, not complex scientific ideas.

Violet

Any chance you might do Neoreaction: A Basilisk or any of the other essays in the collection at some point?

Patrick Lopez

Oh THIS is why I bought the book, now I remember.

spunups

Disco Elysium has at least three hyperobjects: the Revolution, the Pale and of course Disco

HailTheFish

Gotta say I'm with Alice on this one, there's an Immortal Science of sorts already that has all the tools for explaining the things Morton seems to find inexplicable but because he is, for whatever reason, unaware of those concepts or simply unwilling to apply them or think about them seriously, he ends up with this very boring NPR totebag version of Kirkbride locking himself in a hotel room to write the 36 Lessons of Vivec but about climate grief

aceplym

31:02 - *Not that CBT

Kozma Prelevic

I think there is a sense in which you could view the hyper-object, and perhaps OOO on the whole as a kind of admission of defeat on western metaphysics’ own terms. The reason why it seems unoriginal philosophically, perhaps, is because so long as there has has an acknowledgment of anthropocentrism in phenomenology, there have always been those arguing against it. I have to admit that I’ve always had a soft spot for Morton, although his relative ahistoricity and apolitics always rubbed me the wrong way. Claire Patterson made a good point above that Morton’s proposal is most productively read as affectively diagnostic, rather than in any sense normative. I do still feel that there is more to this notion of hyper-objects than a reduction to the phenomenon or concept, though.

Nah

This series is fantastic so far, and this is the best one yet. Some of the best content you guys have ever produced.

Lilith Dyke

"opposite wings of the mind palace" killed me

Jacob Barlow

I highly recommend anyone who's interested in the philosophy here checks out Pete Wolfendale's work. The man is a goddamn genius and he deserves more recognition