Philosophy of Traces
The Influence of Maurizio Ferraris
Will be published approx. on 6. August 2026
Book
Hardback
272 pages
978-1-350-51152-1 (ISBN)
Description
The first book to offer extended critical engagement of the work of the major contemporary Italian philosopher Maurizio Ferraris, showing how his thought is essential to international debates around New Materialism, Speculative Realism and Deconstruction.
In Philosophy of Traces, twenty-two contributions from world-class contemporary philosophers set out the questions and answers that constitute the pillars of Ferraris' work. At its foundation is the concept of the trace, that which arises in the process of the transmission and recording of information which is the basis of natural and social life. The essays explore the significance of the trace across a diverse range of fields including metaphysics, epistemology, aesthetics, philosophy of technology, science and technology studies, architecture, literary theory, and anthropology.
With an introduction by Ferraris himself, this volume will be the key resource for anyone interested in the principal philosopher of New Realism, as well as those concerned with the legacy of post-structuralist philosophy in the Italian context.
In Philosophy of Traces, twenty-two contributions from world-class contemporary philosophers set out the questions and answers that constitute the pillars of Ferraris' work. At its foundation is the concept of the trace, that which arises in the process of the transmission and recording of information which is the basis of natural and social life. The essays explore the significance of the trace across a diverse range of fields including metaphysics, epistemology, aesthetics, philosophy of technology, science and technology studies, architecture, literary theory, and anthropology.
With an introduction by Ferraris himself, this volume will be the key resource for anyone interested in the principal philosopher of New Realism, as well as those concerned with the legacy of post-structuralist philosophy in the Italian context.
Reviews / Votes
In this collection celebrating the thought of Maurizio Ferraris - as 'the philosopher of traces (that never disappear)' as Tiziana Andina and Carola Barbero describe this thinking - the reader will encounter 'traces' of philosophy concerned with the archive, with the document, with cognitive science and the media phenomenology of recording, with the living and the dead, with desire, but also issues of the politics of what Ferraris names 'documentality'. Outstanding in this collection are representative voices of continental philosophy, particularly Italian, and the analytic/continental divide Ferraris rejoins on the other side * Babette Babich, Fordham University, New York City, USA *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
With dust jacket
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-350-51152-1 (9781350511521)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
approx. 07/2026
Bloomsbury Academic
€94.49
Available for download
E-Book
approx. 07/2026
Bloomsbury Academic
€94.49
Available for download
Persons
Tiziana Andina and Carola Barbero are Full Professors of Philosophy at the University of Turin. They co-founded, with Maurizio Ferraris, the Labont - Center for Ontology in Turin.
Content
List of Figures
Notes on the Contributors
Introduction
Part One: Metaphysics
1 Realism and Sublimation: Ferraris on Desire by Graham Harman
2 Why is There Something Rather than Nothing? Recording, Hysteresis, and Emergence by Erica Onnis
Part Two: Memory
3 Memory and Its Traces by Carola Barbero
4 Footprints and Traces: The Perspective of Cognitive Sciences by Alessia Dorigoni and Paolo Legrenzi
Part Three: Life
5 Traces of the Living by Elena Casetta
6 Archiving Humanity: Towards a Novel Thinking of Doc-History. In the Traces of Maurizio Ferraris by Joseph Cohen
Part Four: Friendship
7 Friendship versus Autonomy: Can There Be Too Much of a Good Thing? by Anna Marmodoro
8 Poetics of Friendship - Derrida, Adami, Ferraris by Jolan Orban
Part Five: Documents
9 The Analytic/Continental Divide by Barry Smith
10 Docu-mental Capital by Jocelyn Benoist
Part Six: Art
11 Music as an Art of Trace by Alessandro Arbo
12 Automatic Sweethearts and Other Empathetic Robots. The dark powers of "aesthetic disinterest" by Pietro Montani
Part Seven: Technology
13 Ferraris on Privacy by Vera Tripodi
14 Webfare: How to Solve the Welfare State Crisis through the Conceptualization of Traces by Valeria Martino
15 Ferraris: Instructions for Use. How the Encounter with Documentality Changed My Practice as an Architect and Professor by Giovanni Durbiano
Part Eight: Imagination and Interpretation
16 Imagination and Interpretation: How the Human Mind Builds Reality in the Age of AI by Alessandra Jacomuzzi
17 Trace and Institution. Remarks on Doc-Humanity by Alfredo Ferrarin
Part Nine: Future
18 From Will to Reason: A Critical Overview of Ferraris's Thought by Tiziana Andina
19 Traces of the Future by Giuliano Torrengo
Notes on the Contributors
Introduction
Part One: Metaphysics
1 Realism and Sublimation: Ferraris on Desire by Graham Harman
2 Why is There Something Rather than Nothing? Recording, Hysteresis, and Emergence by Erica Onnis
Part Two: Memory
3 Memory and Its Traces by Carola Barbero
4 Footprints and Traces: The Perspective of Cognitive Sciences by Alessia Dorigoni and Paolo Legrenzi
Part Three: Life
5 Traces of the Living by Elena Casetta
6 Archiving Humanity: Towards a Novel Thinking of Doc-History. In the Traces of Maurizio Ferraris by Joseph Cohen
Part Four: Friendship
7 Friendship versus Autonomy: Can There Be Too Much of a Good Thing? by Anna Marmodoro
8 Poetics of Friendship - Derrida, Adami, Ferraris by Jolan Orban
Part Five: Documents
9 The Analytic/Continental Divide by Barry Smith
10 Docu-mental Capital by Jocelyn Benoist
Part Six: Art
11 Music as an Art of Trace by Alessandro Arbo
12 Automatic Sweethearts and Other Empathetic Robots. The dark powers of "aesthetic disinterest" by Pietro Montani
Part Seven: Technology
13 Ferraris on Privacy by Vera Tripodi
14 Webfare: How to Solve the Welfare State Crisis through the Conceptualization of Traces by Valeria Martino
15 Ferraris: Instructions for Use. How the Encounter with Documentality Changed My Practice as an Architect and Professor by Giovanni Durbiano
Part Eight: Imagination and Interpretation
16 Imagination and Interpretation: How the Human Mind Builds Reality in the Age of AI by Alessandra Jacomuzzi
17 Trace and Institution. Remarks on Doc-Humanity by Alfredo Ferrarin
Part Nine: Future
18 From Will to Reason: A Critical Overview of Ferraris's Thought by Tiziana Andina
19 Traces of the Future by Giuliano Torrengo