Epistemo-ontological Concepts of Esotericism in Contemporary Realist Philosophies

Abstract

Despite undergoing a visible yet ambiguous reception in the field of philosophy, contemporary realisms remain understudied as objects of esotericism. This ambiguity points to the realist movement’s partial divergence from the canonical understanding of intellectual history, prompting an investigation into its possible comparison with the conceptual framework of esotericism. In this article, I argue that the Kantian epistemological framework that contemporary realisms seek to overcome introduces an unwelcome element for esotericism as well. This unwelcome aspect arises not due to the absence of epistemology in esotericism but rather because of the presence of the kind of ontology (epistemo-ontology) that transcendental requirements find impossible to ascertain. To illustrate this point, I will elucidate three conceptual fields—gnosis, speculation, and unrepresentability—characteristic (but not exhaustive) of contemporary realisms. The analysis will be conducted through an examination of François Laruelle’s non-philosophy, Quentin Meillassoux’s speculative materialism, and Eugene Thacker’s dark vitalism.