Onto-Technics in Bryant, Harman, and Nancy

Abstract

My hypothesis in this article is that it is possible to use the philosophical concept of technics to solve a conflict in contemporary continental ontology between speculative materialist and (post)phenomenological approaches. More precisely, I will show that technics gives a privileged access to ontology because it leads to a “materialist” ontology, avoiding both theological and nihilistic approaches, and because technics, being by definition a domain of artificiality, precludes any explication of it in terms of naturalist materialism. I start by critically examining two techno-ontologies that come from speculative realism and object-oriented ontology: Levi R. Bryant’s onto-cartography and Graham Harman’s tool-being. I then present, as a counter-position, Jean-Luc Nancy’s idea of “ecotechnology”. In conclusion, I evaluate the usefulness of the concept of technics for ontology and argue that Nancy’s post-phenomenological approach is preferable because it avoids indefensible hypostases and is more attentive to its own discursive status.