Ray Brassier

In this course

Ray Brassier is a contemporary philosopher known for his work in speculative realism and the critique of correlationism—the assumption that reality is always already filtered through human perception or cognition. In these readings, Brassier's method of subtraction appears central to thinking about what exceeds our representational grasp: how AI systems, biological constraints, and dark vitalism all point to realities that resist the kind of access we typically demand. His framework helps the course articulate how machine learning and emergent swarm behavior operate on planes of cognition fundamentally alien to human comprehension, making him essential for theorizing the gap between our models and what those models actually do.

Mentioned in 4 readings