Weird realism: Lovecraft and philosophy

H.P. Lovecraft was one of the brightest stars of the horror and science fiction magazines, but died in poverty and relative obscurity in the 1930s. In 2005 he was finally elevated from pulp status to the classical literary canon with the release of a Library of America volume dedicated to his work. The impact of Lovecraft on philosophy has been building for more than a decade. Initially championed by shadowy guru Nick Land at Warwick during the 1990s, he was later discovered to be an object of private fascination for all four original members of the twenty-first century Speculative Realist movement. In this book, Harman extracts the basic philosophical concepts underlying Lovecraft's work, yielding a "weird realism" capable of freeing continental philosophy from its current soul-crushing impasse. Harman develops a new philosophical mythology centered in such Lovecraftian figures as Cthulhu, Wilbur Whately, and the rat-like monstrosity Brown Jenkin. --Adapted from publisher description.

Part one. Lovecraft and philosophy. A writer of gaps and horror -- The problem with paraphrase -- The inherent stupidity of all content -- The background of being -- Not unfaithful to the spirit of the thing -- The phenomenological gap -- A Lovecraftian ontography -- On ruination -- A lonely and curious country -- Comic and tragic intentionality -- Style and content -- Part two. Lovecraft's style at work. The call of Cthulhu -- The colour out of space -- The Dunwich horror -- The whisperer in darkness -- At the mountains of madness -- The shadow over Innsmouth -- The dreams in the witch house -- The shadow out of time -- Part three. Weird realism. Gathering the threads -- Fusion -- Fission -- The taxonomic fallacy -- Weird content.