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More than at any other time in human history, we live in an age defined by movement and mobility; and yet, we lack a unifying theory which takes this seriously as a starting point for philosophy. The history of philosophy has systematically explained movement as derived from something else that does not move: space, eternity, force, and time. Why, when movement has always been central to human societies, did a philosophy based on movement never take hold? This book finally overturns this long-standing metaphysical tradition by placing movement at the heart of philosophy.
In doing so, Being and Motion provides a completely new understanding of the most fundamental categories of ontology from a movement-oriented perspective: quality, quantity, relation, modality, and others. It also provides the first history of the philosophy of motion, from early prehistoric mythologies up to contemporary ontologies. Through its systematic ontology of movement, Being and Motion provides a path-breaking historical ontology of our present.
List of contents
- Book I: The Ontology of Motion
- Introduction I: The Age of Motion
- Part I: Ontology and History
- 1. Historical Ontology
- 2. Ontological History
- 3. Philosophy of Motion
- 4. Realism and Materialism
- Part II: The Theory of Motion
- I. Flow
- 5. Continuum
- 6. Multiplicity
- 7. Confluence
- II. Fold
- 8. Junction
- 9. Sensation
- 10. Conjunction
- III. Field
- 11. Circulation
- 12. Knot
- Book II: The Motion of Ontology
- Introduction II: Kinos, Logos, Graphos
- Part I: Being and Space
- I. Kinos
- 13. Centripetal Motion
- II. Logos
- 14. Prehistoric Mythology: Venus, Egg, Spiral
- III. Graphos
- 15. Speech: The Body
- Part II: Being and Eternity
- I. Kinos
- 16. Centrifugal Motion
- II. Logos
- 17. Ancient Cosmology I: The Holy Mountain
- 18. Ancient Cosmology II: Theomachy
- 19. Ancient Cosmology III: Ex Nihilo
- 20. Ancient Cosmology IV: Plato and Aristotle
- III. Graphos
- 21. Writing I: Tokens
- 22. Writing II: Alphabet
- Part III: Being and Force
- I. Kinos
- 23. Tensional Motion
- II. Logos
- 24. Medieval Theology I: Aether
- 25. Medieval Theology II: Impetus
- 26. Medieval Theology III: Conatus
- 27. Medieval Theology IV: The Trinity
- III. Graphos
- 28. The Book I: Manuscript
- 29. The Book II: Printing Press
- Part IV: Being and Time
- I. Kinos
- 30. Elastic Motion (5,594)
- II. Logos
- 31. Modern Phenomenology I: Series
- 32. Modern Phenomenology II: Circulation
- 33. Modern Phenomenology III: Multiplication
- 34. Modern Phenomenology IV: Process and Interval
- III. Graphos
- 35. The Keyboard I: Typewriter
- 36. The Keyboard II: Computer
About the author
Thomas Nail is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Denver. He is the author of Returning to Revolution: Deleuze, Guattari and Zapatismo, The Figure of the Migrant, Theory of the Border, Lucretius I: An Ontology of Motion.
Summary
More than at any other time in human history, we live in an age defined by movement and mobility; and yet, we lack a single contemporary ontology which takes this seriously as a starting point for philosophy. Being and Motion sets out to remedy this lacuna in contemporary thought by providing a historical ontology of our present: an ontology of movement.
Additional text
"This is a remarkable project, comparable in scope and ambition to Martin Heideggerâs Being and Time. In his earlier books on âkinopolitics,â Nail showed that we have entered a new kinetic paradigm in politics in which the migrant is the primary figure, and states, borders, and citizenship are all secondary phenomena derived from this regime of people-in-movement. Being and Motion takes this project to a broader ontological level, arguing not only that movement must now be seen as the fundamental category of âbeing,â but that ontology itself must become mobile. This is philosophy on a grand scale: bold, innovative, and wide-ranging." Daniel W. Smith, Professor of Philosophy, Purdue University
