Posts & Reflections
Thoughts on philosophy and theology; helpful advice on teaching, learning, and coding.
Featured Series
The Archive
-
Meillassoux, Naturally
On Saturday I will be speaking at the Reconceiving Naturalism conference at Swinburne University, Melbourne. I originally intended to address some aspects of Quentin Meillassoux’s Métaphysique et fiction des mondes hors-science, but with only 15 minutes there isn’t long enough to get into it. Instead, I’ve decided to think through Meillassoux’s critique of naturalism in “Iteration,
-
David Wood on Kinnibalism
I have thought for some time now that the next big rights issue for our society will be fought over the status of animals. Reading a short piece by David Wood this morning entitled Kinnibalism, Cannibalism: Stepping Up to the Plate reminded me just how “locked and loaded” this issue is today. The philosophical justification of the mass killing
-
Reconceiving Naturalism Conference Programme
The programme for “Reconceiving Naturalism: The Speculative Challenge” has just been published. The conference will take place on April 26–27 at Swinburne University, Melbourne, and my paper on Meillassoux is scheduled for the Saturday morning.
-
My review of Hollis Phelps Alain Badiou Between Theology and Anti-Theology published in French Studies
My review of Hollis Phelps’ Alain Badiou: Between Theology and Anti-Theology has just been published in French Studies. It is available in fulltext and PDF.
-
Interview with Amaleena Damlé about her recently published book The Becoming of the Body
Amaleena Damlé’s The Becoming of the Body: Contemporary Women’s Writing in French has just been published in Edinburgh University Press’s Crosscurrents series. In an interview with Amaleena I explored some of the issues raised by the book. CHRIS WATKIN: To paint with very broad brushstrokes as we begin, into which debates is this book
-
Reconceiving Naturalism with Meillassoux’s Métaphysique et fiction des mondes hors-science
Later this month (26-27 April) I have been asked to contribute to a conference organised by Telos at Swinburne University in Melbourne. The conference, Reconceiving Naturalism, has been convened to explore the need for richer naturalisms. I plan to speak on Meillassoux’s Métaphysique et fiction des mondes hors-science. This short volume had a former life
-
Cover and endorsement for Khandker, Philosophy, Animality and the Life Sciences
The cover has just been finalised for Wahida Khandker’s Philosophy, Animality and the Life Sciences, in the Crosscurrents series. The endorsement from Cary Wolfe reads: Ranging across a remarkable array of crucial texts in the recent history of philosophy and the life sciences, this book provides both an invaluable critical overview of the work of
-
Deep Sustainability: Narrative, Religion and Ethics
Drafting the latter chapters of The Human Remains has given me occasion to think in a sustained way about the possibilities and limits of narrative identity, including how the notion can be employed beyond humanity. In addition to revisiting Paul Ricœur’s work on narrative identity I have been grappling with the way in which Michel Serres
-
Catherine Malabou and Synaptic Personhood
On the first of April (yes, really) I’ll be giving a paper at the Deakin University Philosophy seminar series entitled ‘Catherine Malabou and Synaptic Personhood’. The paper argues that the way Malabou seeks to understand the relation between brain and mind as an instance of explosive plasticity, cutting across the dichotomy of reductionism and anti-reductionism, risks
-
Other Logics: Alternatives to Formal Logic in the History of Thought and Contemporary Philosophy
A couple of years ago I had the privilege of speaking at Lund university on the subject of Quentin Meillassoux’s treatment of the anthypothetical principle of logic in L’Inexistence divine and elsewhere. Thanks in large part to the persistent hard work of Admir Skodo, the conference papers have been reworked, expanded, and found their way