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'{{Infobox philosopher | name = Eugene Thacker | region = Western Philosophy | era = [[Contemporary Philosophy]] | image = | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | school_tradition = [[Continental Philosophy]], [[Comparative Literature]], [[Media Studies]], [[Philosophy of Religion]] | main_interests = [[Pessimism]], [[Nihilism]], [[Antihumanism]], [[horror fiction]], [[horror film]], [[mysticism]], [[weird fiction]] | notable_ideas = | influences = [[Schopenhauer]], [[Nietzsche]], [[Cioran]], [[Georges Bataille|Bataille]], [[Laruelle]], [[Deleuze]], [[Michel Foucault|Foucault]], [[Kant]], [[Aristotle]] | influenced = }} '''Eugene Thacker''' is an author and Professor at [[The New School]] in New York City. His writing is often associated with the philosophy of [[nihilism]] and [[pessimism]]. Thacker’s most recent books are the ''Horror of Philosophy'' series (including the book ''In The Dust Of This Planet'') and ''Cosmic Pessimism''. He received his Bachelor's degree from the [[University of Washington]], and a PhD in Comparative Literature from [[Rutgers University]]. ==Works== Thacker's most widely read book is ''In The Dust Of This Planet'', part of his ''Horror of Philosophy'' trilogy. In it, Thacker explores the idea of the "unthinkable world" as represented in the [[horror fiction]] genre, in philosophies of pessimism and nihilism, and in the apophatic ("darkness") mysticism traditions. In the first volume, ''In The Dust Of This Planet'', Thacker calls the horror of philosophy "the isolation of those moments in which philosophy reveals its own limitations and constraints, moments in which thinking enigmatically confronts the horizon of its own possibility."<ref>Thacker, ''In The Dust Of This Planet - Horror of Philosophy vol. 1'', p. 2.</ref> Thacker distinguishes the "world-for-us" (the human-centric view of the world), and the "world-in-itself" (the world as it exists in essence), from what he calls the "world-without-us": "the world-without-us lies somewhere in between, in a nebulous zone that is at once impersonal and horrific."<ref>Thacker, ''In The Dust Of This Planet - Horror of Philosophy vol. 1'', p. 6.</ref> Thacker's major philosophical work is ''After Life''. In it, Thacker argues that the [[ontology]] of life operates by way of a split between "Life" and "the living," making possible a "metaphysical displacement" in which life is thought via another metaphysical term, such as time, form, or spirit: "Every ontology of life thinks of life in terms of something-other-than-life...that something-other-than-life is most often a metaphysical concept, such as time and temporality, form and causality, or spirit and immanence"<ref>Thacker, ''After Life'', p. x.</ref> Thacker traces this theme from [[Aristotle]], to [[Scholasticism]] and [[mysticism]]/[[negative theology]], to [[Spinoza]] and [[Kant]], showing how this three-fold displacement is also alive in philosophy today (life as time in process philosophy and Deleuzianism, life as form in biopolitical thought, life as spirit in post-secular philosophies of religion). Ultimately Thacker argues for a skepticism regarding "life": "Life is not only a problem ''of'' philosophy, but a problem ''for'' philosophy.<ref>Thacker, ''After Life'', p. x.</ref> Thacker's work has often been associated with contemporary philosophies of nihilism and pessimism, as well as to [[speculative realism]]. His text "Cosmic Pessimism" defines pessimism as "the philosophical form of disenchantment."<ref>[http://continentcontinent.cc/index.php/continent/article/view/84 Thacker, "Cosmic Pessimism"], ''continent'' 2.2 (2012).</ref> The text begins with the following line: "Pessimism is the night-side of thought, a melodrama of the futility of the brain, a poetry written in the graveyard of philosophy." In an interview with ''[[True Detective (TV series)|True Detective]]'' creator and writer [[Nic Pizzolatto]], Thacker's book ''In The Dust of This Planet'' is cited as an influence on the TV series, along with [[Ray Brassier]]'s ''Nihil Unbound'', [[Thomas Ligotti]]'s ''The Conspiracy Against the Human Race'', Jim Crawford's ''Confessions of an Antinatalist'', and [[David Benatar]]'s ''Better Never To Have Been''.<ref>[http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2014/02/02/writer-nic-pizzolatto-on-thomas-ligotti-and-the-weird-secrets-of-true-detective/ "Writer Nic Pizzolatto on Thomas Ligotti and the Weird Secrets of True Detective."]</ref> Thacker's poetry and fiction has appeared in anthologies such as ''Degenerative Prose'' (published by Black Ice/FC2), ''Diagram: Selections from the Magazine'' (edited by Ander Monson), and ''Debug: Primary Techno Noir'' (edited by [[Kenji Siratori]]). Thacker has produced book arts projects, and an "anti-novel" titled ''An Ideal for Living'', of which American poet and conceptual writer [[Kenneth Goldsmith]] has said: "this an important book...these pages take cues from Burroughs and Gibson, while at the same time presciently pointing to the web-based path writing would take over the next decade."<ref>From the back cover blurb, Gobbet Press re-issue, 2014.</ref> With [[Ronald Sukenick]] and [[Mark Amerika]], Thacker helped establish Alt-X Press, for which he edited the anthology ''Hard_Code''.<ref>An electronic version of the book is available at the [http://www.altx.com/ebooks/altx_frame.html Alt-X Press] website.</ref> Thacker has also collaborated with art, media, and music collectives.<ref>These include [[Fakeshop]], which has presented work at [http://90.146.8.18/en/archives/festival_archive/festival_catalogs/festival_catalog.asp?iProjectID=8316 Ars Electronica] and the [http://artport.whitney.org/exhibitions/biennial2000/fakeshop.shtml 2000 Whitney Biennial], [[Biotech Hobbyist]], and [[Merzbow]]. Thacker produced a CD of [[noise music]] released by [http://www.xtr.com Extreme Records] (''Sketches for Biotech Research,'' XCD-046), as well as a collabortive CD with Merzbow, part of the Merzbow Box Set released in 2000. The Box Set also includes a book titled [http://www.xtr.com/catalog/XLTD-003/ Merzbook] that includes Thacker's essay "Bataille/Body/Noise."</ref> Thacker has written the Forewords to the English editions of the works of [[E.M. Cioran]], published by Arcade Press, as well as the Preface and Annotations to [[Clive Barker]]'s novella ''Cabal'', published by Fiddleblack Press.<ref>[https://fiddleblack.org/press/cabal-and-other-annotations Cabal & Other Annotations, published by Fiddleblack]</ref> In September 2014 the [[WNYC]]'s [[Radiolab]] ran a show entitled "In The Dust Of This Planet." The program traced the appropriation of Thacker's book of the same name in contemporary art, fashion, music video, and popular culture.<ref>[http://www.radiolab.org/story/dust-planet/ "Radiolab - In The Dust Of This Planet"], original broadcast on Monday September 8, 2014. The story was also covered by NPR's On The Media in their show [http://www.onthemedia.org/tags/nihilism/ On The Media - Nihilism], and by Glenn Beck on [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytss1ttDJX8 The BlazeTV].</ref> Thacker is a regular contributor to ''The Japan Times'' Books section, and he has written a column for ''Mute Magazine'' called "Occultural Studies." ==Bibliography== *''Into the Influx Incision'' (Mercury Arts Press, 1994) *Editor, ''Hard Code: Narrating the Network Society'' (Alt-X Press, 2001) *''Biomedia'' (University of Minnesota Press, 2004) *''Creative Biotechnology: A User's Manual'', with [[Natalie Jeremijenko]] and Heath Bunting (Locus+, 2004) *''The Global Genome: Biotechnology, Politics, and Culture'' (MIT Press, 2005) *''The Exploit: A Theory of Networks'', co-authored with [[Alexander R. Galloway]] (University of Minnesota Press, 2007) *''After Life'' (University of Chicago Press, 2010) *''In The Dust Of This Planet - Horror of Philosophy, vol. 1'' (Zero Books, 2011) *Editor with Ed Keller & Nicola Masciandaro, ''Leper Creativity: The Cyclonopedia Symposium'' (Punctum Books, 2012) *''Dark Nights of the Universe'' (with Daniel Colucciello Barber, [[Nicola Masciandaro]], [[Alexander R. Galloway]] and [[François Laruelle]]) ([NAME] Publications, 2013) *''Excommunication: Three Inquiries in Media and Mediation'', with [[Alexander R. Galloway]] and [[McKenzie Wark]] (University of Chicago Press, 2013) *''And They Were Two In One And One In Two'', co-edited with [[Nicola Masciandaro]] (Schism Press, 2014) *''An Ideal for Living: Anti-Novel'' (Gobbet Press, 2014 [2006]) *''Starry Speculative Corpse (Horror of Philosophy Vol. 2)'' (Zero Books, 2015) *''Tentacles Longer Than Night (Horror of Philosophy Vol. 3)'' (Zero Books, 2015) *''Cosmic Pessimism'' (Univocal Books, 2015) ==See also== * [[Georges Bataille]] * [[Gilles Deleuze]] * [[Michel Foucault]] * [[Arthur Schopenhauer]] * [[horror fiction]] * [[experimental literature]] * [[biopunk]] * [[antihumanism]] * [[Emil Cioran]] * [[nihilism]] * [[pessimism]] * [[Japanese horror]] ==References== {{reflist}} == External links == * [http://www.newschool.edu/nssr/liberal-studies/faculty/ The New School: Eugene Thacker] * [http://www.altx.com/profiles/archives/garde/index.html/ This Quintessence of Your Blood] degenerative prose, Black Ice Magazine (1995) * [http://www.altx.com/profiles/archives/neuromantic/index.html/ In Vivo Torsional Stability] degenerative prose, Black Ice Magazine (1998) * [http://www.basilisk.com/basilisk2/ECRITS2/et.html/ Recombinant] (early hyper-theory text), Basilisk #2 (1997) * [http://www.flashpointmag.com/thacker.htm/ Two Disquisitions] degenerative prose, Flashpoint (2001) * [http://www.drunkenboat.com/db4/thacker/thacker.html/ Quantum Dot Tagged Microbeads] degenerative prose, Drunken Boat (2001) * [https://muse.jhu.edu/article/53804 What Is Biomedia?], ''Configurations'' 11.1/Project Muse (2003) * [http://www.ctheory.net/articles.aspx?id=422 Networks, Swarms, Multitudes, part 1], [http://www.ctheory.net/articles.aspx?id=423 part 2], ''Ctheory'' (2004). * [http://www.ctheory.net/articles.aspx?id=472 Biophilosophy for the 21st Century], ''Ctheory'' (6 September 2005). * [http://roychristopher.com/eugene-thacker-whole-earth-dna Interview with Roy Christopher] from 2006, also in the book ''Follow for Now''. * [http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewArticle/80/56 Pulse Demons], ''Culture Machine'' no.9 (2007). * [http://www.pactac.net/pactacweb/web-content/video66.html After Life], talk and interview, Ctheory/PAC-TAC lecture series, November 2008 * [http://www.urbanomic.com/pub_collapse4.php Nine Disputations on Theology and Horror], published in ''Collapse'' vol. IV (2008) * [http://vimeo.com/16642791 Lecture at The New School], November 8, 2010 * [http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/expanding-mind/2010/9/30/expanding-mind-093010.html Expanding Mind 9/30/2010]. Erik Davis and Maja D'Aoust interview Nicola Masciandaro and Eugene Thacker on the subject of black metal * [http://incognitumhactenus.com/nekros-or-the-poetics-of-biopolitics Nekros or the Poetics of Biopolitics], "Incognetum Hactenus - A Journal on Art, Philosophy, and Horror" * [http://vimeo.com/groups/86415/videos/22862986 Black Infinity], lecture at the "Leper Creativity" conference, The New School, 11 March 2011 (with co-panelists Alex Galloway and Nicola Masciandaro) * [http://ttbook.org/book/horror Interview on philosophy and horror], To The Best Of Our Knowledge, 10/30/2011 * [http://backdoorbroadcasting.net/2011/01/eugene-thacker-divine-darkness/ Divine Darkness], lecture at "Dark Materialisms" conference, London Natural History Museum, 12 January 2011 * [https://archive.org/details/DivineDarkness/ Divine Darkness], lecture at "Speculative Medievalisms" conference, King's College London, 14 January 2011 * [http://www.palgrave-journals.com/pmed/journal/v3/n1/index.html Wayless Abyss: Mysticism, Mediation, & Divine Nothingness], Postmedieval journal #3 (2012) * [http://continentcontinent.cc/index.php/continent/article/view/84 "Cosmic Pessimism"], ''continent'' 2.2 (2012): 66-75. * [https://archive.org/details/DarkNightsOfTheUniverseEtNoxSicutDiesIlluminabitur Dark Nights of the Universe], The Public School NYC/Recess Gallery, April 26–29, 2012 (with Daniel Coluciello Barber, Nicola Masciandaro, and [[Alexander R. Galloway]]) * [http://solutioperfecta.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/g6-thacker.pdf Day of Wrath], "Glossator 6 (2012): Black Metal", 89-120. * [http://prn.fm/2012/07/19/expanding-mind-horror-philosophy-071912 'Horror of philosophy' interview] on Expanding Mind Radio, 9 July 2012 * [http://glossator.org/volumes/ 'Glossator 7: The Mystical Text (Black Clouds Course Through Me Unending)'], journal issue co-edited with Nicola Masciandaro, 2013 * [http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/31403831 All for Nought], Nietzsche Workshop IV, Parsons/The New School, 13 April 2013 (starts at 35:00 min) * [http://www.scapegoatjournal.org/docs/05/SG_Excess_378-387_F_Thacker.pdf "The Sight of a Mangled Corpse - Interview with Eugene Thacker"] in the journal Scapegoat, issue 05 (2013) * [http://complit.as.nyu.edu/object/complit.ne.041614 Excommunication - Mediating the Nonhuman], with Alexander Galloway and McKenzie Wark, NYU, 16 April 2014 * [http://www.radiolab.org/story/dust-planet/ Radiolab - In The Dust Of This Planet], Radiolab interview with Eugene Thacker, Simon Critchley, and others, WNYC, September 8, 2014 * [http://www.plinth.us/issue02 Black Bile], Plinth issue 02 [2014] * [http://nbnseminar.com/2015/09/28/eugene-thacker-horror-of-philosophy-zero-book-2011-2015 Horror of Philosophy: Three Volumes], Interviewed by Carla Nappi on New Books Network (2015) * [http://tankmagazine.com/issue-64/talk/eugene-thacker Interview], TANK Magazine #64 (Fall 2015) * [http://publicdomainreview.org/2015/04/09/black-on-black/ Black on Black], The Public Domain Review (2015) * [https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/enelpolvodeesteplaneta?source=feed_text&story_id=1735638043333844 En El Polvo De Este Planeta], Spanish edition (2015) of "In The Dust Of This Planet" presented by Materia Oscura * [http://www.fourbythreemagazine.com/issue/nihilism/12-fragments-on-nihilism 12 Fragments on Nihilism], Four By Three Magazine * [http://www.metamute.org/editorial/occultural-studies-column Occultural Studies], column for ''[[Mute (magazine)|Mute]]'' Magazine | articles on [[Robert Desnos]], [[And Also The Trees]], [[Thomas Ligotti]], [[Arthur Schopenhauer]], [[black metal]] * [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/search-results/?q=eugene+thacker&submit=Search Japan Times column] | articles on [[Ito Junji]], [[Dazai Osamu]], [[Nishitani Keiji]], [[Haruo Satō (novelist)|Sato Haruo]] * [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2016/07/02/books/black-illumination-zen-poetry-death Black Illumination: Zen and the Poetry of Death] ''Japan Times'' 2 Jul 2016 * [http://www.full-stop.net/2016/10/26/interviews/blair-bainbridge/eugene-thacker Full Stop interview] October 26, 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:Thacker, Eugene}} [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:21st-century philosophers]] [[Category:American philosophers]] [[Category:American literary critics]] [[Category:Media theorists]] [[Category:New School University faculty]]'