The Allure of Things: Process and Object in Contemporary Philosophy contests the view that metaphysics is something to be overcome. By focusing on process and object oriented ontology (OOO) and rejecting the privileging of human existence over the existence of non-human objects, this collection explores philosophy's concern with things themselves. Interest in Latour, Stengers, Whitehead, Harman and Meillassoux has prompted a resurgence of ontological questions outside the traditional subject-object framework of modern critical thought. This new collection consequently proposes a pragmatic and pluralist approach to 'modes of existence'. Drawing together an international range of leading scholars, The Allure of Things fully covers the similarities between OOO and process philosophy, and is an essential addition to the literature on metaphysics.

Notes on ContributorsPreface Roland FaberIntroduction Andrew GoffeyPart I: Crossings: Connection, Disconnection, Vibration 1. Atomicity, Conformation, Enduring Objects, and "Things" James Bono2. Another Response to Shaviro Graham Harman3. Touch: A Philosophic Meditation Roland FaberPart II: Things: Substances, Individuals, and Creatures4. The Time of the Object: Derrida, Luhmann, and the Processual Nature of Substances Levi R. Bryant5. Conatus and Concrescence: Stearns and Whitehead on Individuation Jude Jones6. Creaturely Things: Living Matter, Dead Matter & the Resonance of Actual Entities Beatrice Marovich7. Facts as Social Things Michael HalewoodPart III: Dramatisations: Situating, Abstracting, Experimenting8. Between Realism and Antirealism: Deleuzian Metaphysics in the Style of Whitehead Jeffrey Bell9. A Situated Metaphysics. Reading Whitehead on Things and History Melanie Sehgal10. Speculative philosophy and the art of dramatization Isabelle Stengers11. Philosophical Experimentation Between Deleuze and Guattari Andrew GoffeyReferencesIndex