The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast Ep. 384: Graham Harman's Object-Oriented Ontology (Part One)
Jan 26, 2026
They debate a sprawling ontology that counts physical things, events, fictional characters, and sensual appearances as entities. They unpack a strange causal picture where real objects never directly touch one another. They preview a Kantian move that makes aesthetics and metaphor into indirect routes to reality.
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A Realist Middle Path
- Graham Harman frames object-oriented ontology as a middle path between scientism and postmodern dismissal of reality.
- He aims to reclaim realist objects while admitting our access to them is mediated and partial.
Author's Academic Crossroads
- Dylan recounts his undergraduate split between physics and postmodernist philosophy, which shaped his sympathy for Harman's middle ground.
- He found postmodernism right about science's cultural and narrative components but insufficiently engaged with science's practical success.
Real Versus Sensual Objects
- Harman distinguishes between real objects (things-in-themselves) and sensual/sensory objects (appearances we experience).
- This split echoes Kantian structure while preserving a commitment to real objects' independent existence.
