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Persona #112

Graham Harman

1968–present
American philosopher, central figure of speculative realism and object-oriented ontology

Objects withdraw from their relations — flat ontology, the end of correlationism

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where personas disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid (32 attributes) is shown.

Attribute Graham Harman
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Relational
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Immediate
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Active
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency None
Observer · Moral Authority Reason
Observer · Theological Method N/A
Energy · Extent Finite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Non-conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each persona's writings reveal about their stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Graham Harman

Conventional modern.

Space

Graham Harman

Relational — space is constituted by the patterns of object-relation.

Matter

Graham Harman

Substantival in a radicalised sense — every object is irreducibly real.

Observer

Graham Harman

A single embodied person irreducible to her relations. Metaphysical agency: None — OOO is a flat ontology.

Energy

Graham Harman

Conventional modern.

Information

Graham Harman

Substantival — information about objects is itself an object-relation.

Internal Tensions

Where each persona's working synthesis strains against itself.

Graham Harman

OOO has been criticised by Marxists and feminist philosophers for what they read as a hyper-inflation of ontological commitment — if everything is equally an object, ontological distinctions lose their work.