A Philosophy of Glimpses: 

The Prolegomena to a New Metaphysics and Phenomenology of Lacks

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“A phenomenology of lacks” is an “art-form” that maps out what it’s like to experience something that’s not entirely there or not always around but that was nevertheless apprehended. What kind of world are we in where this kind of mystery unfolds? Hard to say, but the answer will not be found in a purely physical consideration of reality. As hard as we’ve tried to escape it, we must return to metaphysics, but if we do, we might find a freedom there we long forgot that we possessed.

 

Metaphysics seems to be a study of what is “non-physical,” with a special focus on the “forms” that render matter intelligible. Phenomenology, on the other hand, is primarily an act of apprehension and “moments” versus an act of judgment and systematizing. Metaphysics has a long history of being associated with “systems building,” so what does phenomenology have to do with metaphysics? In this treatise, which arose from the discussions of Thomas Jockin, Javier Rivera, and O.G. Rose, it’s argued that phenomenology is the key methodology for “the new metaphysics.”

 

Didn’t Derrida deconstruct all metaphysics? Only metaphysics which rely on “ontological gaps,” but there is a whole world to be found in the realm of “metaphysical apprehensions.” Apprehensions are primarily based on the act of perceiving the world versus the act of thinking about it, a distinction the treatise elaborates on. Still, thinking plays a role, because what we can experience in perception are quick moments and “glimmers” that are gone just as soon as we notice them. To keep those moments in mind, we must think about them, which means we must focus on “lacks.” Lacks are not nothing, and how they are distinct is a main concern of the treatise.

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