Description
Book SynopsisIn Ernst Bloch’s Speculative Materialism: Ontology, Epistemology, Politics, Cat Moir offers a new interpretation of the philosophy of Ernst Bloch. The reception of Bloch’s work has seen him variously painted as a naïve realist, a romantic nature philosopher, a totalitarian thinker, and an irrationalist whose obscure literary style stands in for a lack of systematic rigour. Moir challenges these conceptions of Bloch by reconstructing the ontological, epistemological, and political dimensions of his speculative materialism. Through a close, historically contextualised reading of Bloch’s major work of ontology, Das Materialismusproblem, seine Geschichte und Substanz (The Materialism Problem, its History and Substance), Moir presents Bloch as one of the twentieth century’s most significant critical thinkers.
Trade Review"Overall, readers from a range of background and interests will find much in this broad, varied and eminently readable study of an underappreciated thinker likely to become a first port of call for much future philosophical engagement with Bloch." - Jack Kellam, in Marx & Philosophy Review of Books [Full review]
Table of ContentsPreface Introduction 1. The materialism problem 2. Ontology Nature contra mechanism Matter as the subject of nature The logic of matter Real possibility Teleology without a telos 3. Epistemology The structure of the concept The influence of neo-Kantianism The role of irony Rationalism, empiricism, and practice 4. Politics The German Philosopher of the October Revolution? For Stalin, against Hitler The Politics of Speculative Materialism Speculation, totality, and immanent critique Chapter 5: Relevance and critique The speculative turn: Bloch and Meillassoux New materialism: Bloch and Bennett Ecological materialisms: Bloch, Foster, and Moore Epilogue: The speculative expanse Bibliography
