The Life Of Catherine Malabou And Levi Bryant - 1631 Words

Catherine Malabou and Levi Bryant: A critical comparison of materialisms Speculative materialism arose in response to the post-Kantian philosophy of correlationism. Scholars have since debated the relationship of the perceived (object) and the perceiver (subject). Kant’s transcendental materialist philosophy supports what Quentin Meillassoux terms weak correlationism in that it allows for the thinking of the unknowable. However, strong correlationist (i.e. Heidegger and Hegel) refute that humans can escape their own thoughts, therefore making it impossible to know or even imagine that anything outside of the correlationist circle (objects in and of themselves) exists. Both Catherine Malabou and Levi Bryant can be seen as emphasizing speculative materialism in that they attempt to move beyond this subject-object correlate. While Malabou describes neuronal plasticity in What Should We Do With Our Brain, Bryant focuses on â€Å"machines† and their ontology in Onto-Cartography: An Ontology of Machines and Media. Malabou’s ultimate descr iption of the resistance and contradiction between the brain and mind fails to be accounted for by Bryant’s ontology and conception of â€Å"machines†. Bryant’s object oriented ontology does little to explain the origin of freedom in his â€Å"machines† (whereby we can begin to take charge of society); however, Bryant does suggest the use of thermopolitics to attack institutions. Together, Malabou and Bryant’s philosophies provide new ways of thinking about