
The Contingent Universality
A New Ontology
Jure Simoniti(Author)
Bloomsbury Academic (Publisher)
Will be published approx. on 29. October 2026
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-1-350-51472-0 (ISBN)
Description
There may exist something like the most unbearable of all philosophical thoughts.
It is the thought of contingency and universality converging, intersecting, and being one and the same thing, approached from two different perspectives. Indeed, hardly anything is as unsettling as the realisation of the absolute contingency of the emergence of universals - and the correlative realization that the only true universality is the contingency of everything.
Against the entire tradition of Western thought, which has sought to anchor universal truth in transcendent laws and eternal forms, The Contingent Universality proposes a radical inversion. Jure Simoniti thinks the unbearable thought through to the end, facing up to its most binding and disconcerting consequences, and sets forth a bold new ontology - an ontology of continent universality.
The philosophy of Slavoj Zizek is central to this project, and The Contingent Universality sets out to finally accomplish the ontology of negative logical space that is implicit throughout his work. Tracing a sweeping intellectual arc from Plato and Aristotle through Kant, Fichte, and Hegel to contemporary thinkers such as Derrida, Badiou, the book reconstructs the hidden history of this idea: that every universal was once a contingent singularity. In doing so, it provides new answers to questions on the nature of contingency, necessity, predictability of the future, the validity of the laws of nature, the role of singularity in relation to universality, chaos and order, reality and truth.
It is the thought of contingency and universality converging, intersecting, and being one and the same thing, approached from two different perspectives. Indeed, hardly anything is as unsettling as the realisation of the absolute contingency of the emergence of universals - and the correlative realization that the only true universality is the contingency of everything.
Against the entire tradition of Western thought, which has sought to anchor universal truth in transcendent laws and eternal forms, The Contingent Universality proposes a radical inversion. Jure Simoniti thinks the unbearable thought through to the end, facing up to its most binding and disconcerting consequences, and sets forth a bold new ontology - an ontology of continent universality.
The philosophy of Slavoj Zizek is central to this project, and The Contingent Universality sets out to finally accomplish the ontology of negative logical space that is implicit throughout his work. Tracing a sweeping intellectual arc from Plato and Aristotle through Kant, Fichte, and Hegel to contemporary thinkers such as Derrida, Badiou, the book reconstructs the hidden history of this idea: that every universal was once a contingent singularity. In doing so, it provides new answers to questions on the nature of contingency, necessity, predictability of the future, the validity of the laws of nature, the role of singularity in relation to universality, chaos and order, reality and truth.
Reviews / Votes
Jure Simoniti's The Contingency Universality is the best book written on Zizek for a long time and maybe ever. If Quentin Meillassoux's speculative realism started a philosophical revolution, Simoniti's book is the responding counter-revolution. A must-read for all those interested in the possibility of thought today. * Rex Butler, Professor of Art History, Monash University, Australia * In an epoch in which thinking is in retreat, Jure Simoniti courageously affirms the return to pure thinking, without other determinations, thus confronting us with the most unbearable dimension of philosophical thought. The Contingent Universality is a profound a reconstruction of philosophy through these concepts. Everything is turned upside down: the most real thing in the world is an ideality, the most ideal a reality. With this, Simoniti forcefully proves wrong all those who believe that ontology is boring. It is a must read for all those who are not looking for easy answers. * Agon Hamza, co-author of Reading Hegel (2021) *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
Illustrations
10 bw illus
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-350-51472-0 (9781350514720)
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
Person
Jure Simoniti is a Researcher at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Content
Introduction: Contingency and Universality Coinciding
1. When Did Universality Become Contingent?
2. Zizek's Detours on the Path to Contingent Universality
3. The Neglected Historical Origins of Contingent Universality. The Revolutions of Modern Science
4. Towards a New Ontology of Contingent Universality
5. Eleven New Truths About the World
1. When Did Universality Become Contingent?
2. Zizek's Detours on the Path to Contingent Universality
3. The Neglected Historical Origins of Contingent Universality. The Revolutions of Modern Science
4. Towards a New Ontology of Contingent Universality
5. Eleven New Truths About the World