New Realism(s). A Brief Theoretical Inquiry

Among the different tendencies in contemporary philosophy, the so called “new realism” is probably one of the most interesting. The “New Realism” is not simply a “back” to the reality, a banal and trivial recognition of the existence of the external world. Rather, it is a polemic (and therefore political) philosophical movement against the theoretical monopoly, especially in continental philosophy, ruled by the postmodern philosophical discourse. Therefore, New Realism is a sort of philosophical antagonist of postmodernity. However, we cannot flatten the New Realism on the critique of postmodernity. Indeed, New Realism is a multifaceted and stratified philosophical movement. There are several different New Realisms. These New Realisms include different authors, lines and paths of research, joined by the critique of postmodernity, but distinguished in many ways. The aim of this contribution is double. Firstly, I will trace briefly the theoretical history of New Realism. Secondly, I will focus my paper on the most important topics of new realism, and at the same time on the different philosophical theories (Ferraris, Meillassoux, Gabriel, Boghossian, Harman, Gratton) developed within the name of “New Realism”.