The Object-Oriented Ontology
The Object-Oriented Ontology is a relatively new theory that has emerged in recent years. It has some controversies of its own. As I have learned more about object theory, I have come to realise that this theory bears a strong resemblance to my perception of objects in life. However, I have not yet found a way to implement it into my reflective process of practice. So here I will extract some of the ideas from the theory and, where appropriate, combine them with comments from the researcher Adriana Ospina. I will continue to focus on OOO theory in my future research.
Object-oriented ontology (OOO) is a 21st-century[1] Heidegger-influenced school of thought that rejects the privileging of human existence over the existence of nonhuman objects.（Harman，2002，p2）
This is in contrast to what it calls the "anthropocentrism" of Kant's philosophy by proposing a metaphorical Copernican Revolution, which would displace the human from the center of the universe like Copernicus displaced the Earth from being the center of the universe（Bryant, Levi ，12 January 2010）
In the wake of Kant's Copernican revolution, the human being becomes central. Kant believed that things were perceived through human consciousness. Our understanding of the world cannot be separated from our own mind.
OOO attempt to examine whether objects can exist independently without human‘s subjectivity comprehension or not？Ooo broadens the meaning of 'object' into one not thought of before.
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OOO’s concept of “object” is closer to what we consider to be a concept or an idea. For example, for OOO a letter of the alphabet is anobject, it’s an idea; the alphabet specifically it’s a higher object, and language a higher object still.
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All objects are equal, whether human, non-human, fictional, real or inanimate.
There are real and sensual objects. Sensual objects only exist in relation to some real object. -
It divides objects into sensual objects and real objects.
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Real objects cannot relate to one another indirectly by means of a sensual object
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Sensual objects only exist in relation to some real object.
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The object is not solid material as we normally understand it; nor is it an object that we as subjects objectify.
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Harman arguments that a theory of everything cannot be provided by science stating four false assumptions.
Recently，OOO has become the trend of artworld. Harman said the concept of the object bring philosophy and arts together.
But this idea is nothing new, nor is it the result of artists thinking about OOO. Art objects have always had more meaning than the definitions of common objects.(Adriana Ospina, 2019,P5)
An artist’s conceptual diagram and can be seen as a connection to OOObut was not necessarily thought of as OOO originally. (Adriana Ospina, 2019,P5)
Books and resources
1. Harman, Graham (2002). Tool-Being: Heidegger and the Metaphysics of Objects. Peru, IL: Open Court. ISBN 978-0-8126-9444-4.
2. Bryant, Levi (12 January 2010). "Onticology–A Manifesto for Object-Oriented Ontology, Part 1". Larval Subjects. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
3.Adriana Ospina. (2019, June). Object-oriented Ontology A New Theory of Everything by Graham Harman, and Art Confusions. . (Louise Malcolm, Ed.) CoBo Social, 8.
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