Ep. 384: Graham Harman's Object-Oriented Ontology (Part Two)

What It Covers

Episode 384 continues examining Graham Harman's Object-Oriented Ontology, focusing on his concepts of undermining versus overmining, the distinction between real and sensual objects, and his theory of vicarious causation. The discussion explores how objects interact without direct contact and why Harman argues science only accesses sensual objects, not real ones.

Key Questions Answered

• •Undermining versus Overmining: Harman identifies two forms of reductionism philosophers use incorrectly. Undermining reduces objects to smaller components like atoms or strings, making mid-sized objects too shallow to be real. Overmining reduces objects to their phenomenal appearances, social functions, or effects on observers, denying any surplus beyond immediate impact. Both approaches fail to capture what objects actually are in themselves.
• •The Four-Fold Structure: Objects exist in four dimensions through tensions between real objects, sensual objects, real qualities, and sensual qualities. Real objects possess an inner nature that withdraws from all relations. Sensual objects are constructed appearances we interact with. Real qualities are actual properties like chemical composition. Sensual qualities are how things appear under different conditions, like an apple tasting sweet or sour depending on context.
• •Vicarious Causation Theory: Real objects cannot directly touch or interact with each other, similar to Leibniz's windowless monads. Instead, causation occurs through sensual objects as mediators. When two billiard balls collide, each real object interacts with the sensual version of the other, creating retroactive effects on the real. This secular occasionalism replaces God or mind as the traditional mediator in causal interactions between things.
• •Science and Sensual Objects: Science investigates sensual objects and their real qualities, not real objects themselves. Scientists pursue actual properties like acidity or chemical composition rather than subjective appearances, but they still operate within the realm of constructed phenomenal objects. Real objects forever slip from human grasp, making complete scientific knowledge impossible. This positions science as studying surface-level reality rather than accessing things in themselves.
• •Knowledge Without Truth: Harman rehabilitates knowledge as superior expertise or mastery rather than correspondence to truth. Knowledge concerns what things are made of and what they do, separating it from cognition. A trained doctor possesses techne about treating ailments without understanding fundamental natures. This resembles Plato's distinction between true opinion and knowledge, where practical skill operates through tacit, procedural understanding rather than explicit theoretical access.