Theory of the Death Drive as a Model for Speculative Philosophy: Land, Brassier, Negarestani, and Bataille Cover Image

Mirties varos teorija kaip spekuliatyviosios filosofijos modelis: Landas, Brassieras, Negarestani ir Bataille’us
Theory of the Death Drive as a Model for Speculative Philosophy: Land, Brassier, Negarestani, and Bataille

Author(s): Linartas Tuomas
Subject(s): Epistemology, Social Philosophy, Contemporary Philosophy, Philosophy of Law, Psychoanalysis
Published by: Vilniaus Universiteto Leidykla
Keywords: death drive; speculative realism; Nick Land; Ray Brassier; Reza Negarestani;

Summary/Abstract: This paper deals with Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of the death drive from the perspective of speculative philosophy. For this purpose, three philosophers have been chosen: Nick Land, Ray Brassier, and Reza Negarestani. I claim that they gradually radicalised the Freudian thought: Land expanded it to capitalist economy and terrestrial geotrauma; Brassier shifted it towards a solar catastrophe and the prospect of extinction; Negarestani incorporated it into the exteriority of cosmic contingency. This way, Freud’s legacy emerges as a transcendental, epistemological and speculative instrument to tackle Meillassoux’s problem of correlation. I consider why this trajectory has ceased: I suggest a hypothesis that Bataille’s influence has not been overcome, especially in the case of Negarestani. I offer several vectors, according to which, Bataille could serve as an opportunity for openness to the Outside and a chance to continue the trajectory of the speculative death drive. I suggest that it is possible to reconsider Bataille as one of the precursors to the contemporary speculative thought.

  • Issue Year: 2023
  • Issue No: 103
  • Page Range: 133-144
  • Page Count: 12
  • Language: Lithuanian