Gilbert Simondon and the Genealogy of Speculative Realism: Ontology of the "Pre-Individual"

The philosophical project of Gilbert Simondon, long remaining obscure, today emerges as a key link in the genealogy of the contemporary speculative turn. This article demonstrates that the ontology developed by Simondon of the "pre-individual" – a metastable field of virtual potentials that precedes any formed individuality – represents a radical challenge to anthropocentric correlationalism. Through the lens of individuation processes, his thought allows for the articulation of reality as independent of human access, thus anticipating the central pathos of speculative realism in overcoming Kant's "Copernican Revolution." Simondon's analysis of technical objects and non-human forms of life offers a concrete phenomenology of the "world-without-us," serving as a bridge between speculative theory and empirical research, and finds direct continuation in four main branches of speculative realism: Meillassoux's speculative materialism, Harman's object-oriented ontology, Grant's transcendental materialism, and Brassier's transcendental nihilism. The methodological approach of the research is based on the consistent application of genealogical and comparative-analytical methods. These methods are used for systematic comparison and ontological modeling of Simondon's positions with the works of key representatives of speculative realism (Harman, Meillassoux, Grant). This allows for the conceptualization of the ontology of the "pre-individual" as the foundation for a non-anthropocentric realism that transcends the limitations of correlationalism. Such a comprehensive approach not only establishes historical-philosophical continuity but also reveals the heuristic potential of the concept of the "pre-individual" for addressing the problems posed by speculative realism. The relevance and novelty of the research lie in the systematic comparison of the concept of the "pre-individual" with various projects of speculative realism, united by a critique of correlationalism but diverging in its overcoming. While traditional interpretations see in Simondon primarily a philosopher of technology and culture, this work reveals him as a major precursor of non-human ontology. This reinterpretation not only clarifies the origins of the very "speculative impulse" of the 21st century but also uncovers in Simondon's legacy an undervalued resource for philosophical reflection on contemporary issues – from ecology and technology to the question of the status of non-human actors. The novelty of the approach lies in demonstrating how Simondon's ontology of process offers an alternative to both correlationalism and rigid schemes of speculative metaphysics, opening the way to a dynamic and polymorphic understanding of reality through the principles of individuation, metastability, and transduction.

Simondon, Harman, Meillassoux, Brassier, Grant, speculative realism, ontology, pre-individual, individuation, correlationism