Is the way Technology is advancing really “rational-and-desirable”? (A Critique)
A project by Emily Saladin-Crosse. 3rd year, Philosophical studies. Newcastle university, 2021.
[Item Image]
[key words: introjection, consumption of mediated, de-sublimated product and information; deciphering true and false needs; nothing radically new, increasingly; mediated learning…]
“Dear Guests,
As of 2021, we ask for your help for a critical approach to modern-day technology. To bring you up to date… The new “phenomenological playground” is the internet. Via the phone/ screens we consume products: are “fed” information, images, videos, short and long pieces of information all the time, on the news, social media, etc. Every single thing is at arm’s length (literally), just a *click* away: information, product, print, photo, … everything beautiful and ugly, available and accessible. Art, replicated, multiplied, “free”. Same with porn, and fighting. Surveillance is invasive and “normalised”. For instance, online, we give in quite voluntarily to different forms of surveillance, because it looks rational and desirable and it looks like we have choice. In fact, we are recognised as workers and consumers by Tech. The image shown is the one I utilise to demonstrate/ illustrate parts of the multi-layered problem of deciphering true and false needs which poses perhaps more and more of a problem than before because of technological tendencies towards infinity.
‘Everything is functioning’- says Heidegger, but also: ‘All our relationships have become merely technical ones.’ (Der Spiegel Interview, published after his death, 1976). Today, the values of the Enlightenment bombarded with items according to technological interests instead of our own. This is no longer “rational” to Marcuse in his critique of the Enlightenment ‘One-Dimensional Man’ (1964).
It is valuable to look into ideas such Tech reproducing 1-Dimensional thought in individuals and society as a consequence of “introjection” from the outside (a psychoanalytic notion to be examined). Technology and mediated learning would cause a problem for 18th century Rousseau, but the modern-day Rousseau-inspired educational theorists: we hold on to the idea of an analytic over synthetic approach to education. Whether there are true or false needs at all, is also a question to address.
The writing is in the form of a dialogue, online. This is how the forum proceeds:
ACT 0: Positions.
ACT I: The Paradox of Technology.
ACT II: Deciphering True and False Needs.
ACT III: More critique.
Category: Stage 3
The following project considers ‘memetics’ as a theory of the role of imitative dynamics in the genesis and development of human culture. This entails an exposition of memetics as the product of a series of conceptual transpositions between different practices and domains, which are tracked at length. Situating the object in question in the domain of fundamental anthropology (such circumscribing both cultural genesis and development), the concept applied to this object shall be René Girard’s ‘mimetic theory’ both with respect to its critique of a neglect of acquisitive, and therefore conflictual, mimesis pertaining broadly to theories of imitation, and its competing account of the function of imitation in the genesis and development of human culture. Having offset memetics with the theoretical conclusions of mimetic theory, the project shall conclude with an evaluation of memetics as an account of the role of imitative dynamics in human culture.
The intention of this project is to shed light on the experiences of a second-generation immigrant. It questions terminology like ‘the self’, and uses empirical research to explain the subconscious experiences which contributed to the confusion and frustration of constantly feeling displaced. In search of answers to resolve this, this project turns to philosophy.
Main texts referred to:
John Rawls and Liberalism: A Theory of Justice.
Michael Sandel and Communitarianism: Liberalism and the Limits of Justice.
Zygmunt Bauman and Fluid Identities: Identity: Conversations With Benedetto Vecchi.
“If you recall that only a few decades ago ‘identity’ was nowhere near the centre of our thoughts, remaining but an object of philosophical meditation. Today, though, ‘identity’ is the loudest talk in the town’” 16-17. Zygmunt Bauman, Identity.
This project questions whether the ‘self’ should be seen as completely autonomous, or whether ‘identity’ is formed by interpersonal relationships and one’s environment. Or, are these theories outdated? Is a more current and less restrictive theory required?
In this project, I explore the contrasting legal systems, common law and civil code and compare them to my two principal philosophers:
– Jean-François Lyotard
– Plato
Additional philosophers I studied:
– Immanuel Kant
– Ludwig Wittgenstein
– Aristotle
– Socrates
The questions I focused on:
• Can we have a politics with or without a true essence of justice?
• Can we judge based on opinion, or based on prior criteria?
• Do legal systems work within situational context or universal formulas?
• What are the philosophical attributes embedded within legal systems?
I essentially wanted to establish the central aspects of the legal systems I am studying regarding how they view judgement. This was examined by determining whether judgement is based on the conformity of statutes and legislations or based on precedent. I determine that the civil law system’s rigid structure gives judges limited say in the outcome of cases as they abide by the law’s statutes. On the other hand, the common law works on precedent, using past cases to determine the conclusion of a case. Additionally, I compared the philosophical attributes of these two legal systems to the two philosophers I studied. I resolved that the common law generally related to Lyotard’s situational school of philosophy; judgement is based case-by-case without regard to prior criteria. Furthermore, Plato’s true essence of justice claims a universalism of judgement which coincides with the civil law system. Concluding, I argue the superiority of Lyotard’s philosophy and the common law system over the contrasting school of philosophy and legal system.
The theories that attempt to explain the derivation of meaning in art concerning the individual usually assume the original creator is one individual. Theatre however always contains three distinct creative groups in the formulation of a play. This dissertation aims to examine how theatre stands out amongst other art forms in the derivation of meaning due to the distinct creative groups involved in a theatre production.
I will be taking an autoethnographcial approach by applying the concepts to a performance of Hamlet that I was in and, by examining that experience, hopefully see if such theories accurately apply to theatre.
Both Buddhism and Nietzsche’s philosophy point in the direction of nothingness. Nietzsche studied Buddhism at a young age due to his training as a classical philologist and it most likely accompanied him throughout his life as one of the cornerstones to his thought alongside his great educator Schopenhauer. Buddhism as a philosophy lacks breadth and depth, unlike Nietzsche who is a far-reaching philosopher writing on many topics in a variety of ways. It is an articulation of the application of emptiness and becoming onto all things in the universe – subtle in its poetic method of reducing many things’ Being to empty becoming. Buddhism is direct yet allusive in its brevity, a feat somewhat lacking in Nietzsche’s numerous aphorisms: there is so much character and enthusiasm in Nietzsche’s many articulations of nothingness and his many affirmations of life, forcing the discussion at hand to demand that portions be ignored, to allow other parts to make sense. So that Nietzsche may compliment Buddhism and Buddhism may compliment Nietzsche, the discussion will dissect Nietzsche’s most pure nihilisms from his array of articulations and applications of nihilism, in order to be able to compare their likeness to one another. The discussion will likewise only have eyes for Madhyamaka interpretations of the Buddha’s doctrine through Nagarjuna. Importantly, Nietzsche and the Buddha will be discussed within the milieu of their contextual origin, which will poke at the purpose of their philosophy: the Buddha’s extinction through nirvana demanded by his Indian peers (post-Brahmanical annihilation), and Nietzsche’s edified affirmations of life, attempting to provide the facilities for all to see ‘it’ for what ‘it’ is, in Europe upon God’s death. This discourse is a deliberately polemical approach to nihilism for the sake of being able to discuss Nietzsche’s selected philosophy and Buddhism mutually, improving ones ability to see where the two agree and disagree at the cost of excessive hyperbole.
In my project I investigate the problem of modern politics, especially the absence of viable alternatives to our contemporary political system. I use climate change as an example of an issue that is limit testing the stability of the status quo. I use Marcuse’s concept of one-dimensional thought and Badiou’s ethical theory as examples of radical critique of stale political arrangement, and also thinkers inspired by them like Mark Fisher and his concept of Capitalist Realism.
Virtual Identities Vs. Authentic Selves: A Philosophical Investigation into Whether the Level of Value Society Offers to Hyperreal Identities Relates to Baudrillard’s Notion of ‘The Death of the Real’
This project aims to explore society’s immersion in technology or simulations of reality such as social media, with the idea this hyperreality is used to claim a second identity. This territory will be looked at more closely, by interpreting the value society places on virtual identity offered by the implosion of the new stimulating realm of technological experience such as social media and whether this contributes to losing a sense of authenticity and external reality which will point toward Baudrillard’s notion regarding the death of the real.
-Look at Taylor’s concept of webs of interlocution in ‘sources of the Self’ to show how society is able to learn identity, from being affected by others, in social spaces such as social media.
-Research the extent social media can affect society’s identities supported by a description of ‘Snapchat Dysmorphia’.
-Demonstrate how social media increases communities individuals are able to become a part of in granting a sense of identity.
-Look at Bauman’s concept of liquid modernity emphasising how the task of identity formation is incoherent and difficult in a world of flux.
Use Bauman’s concept cloakroom communities to describe how social media allows swapping of identity comes ease alluding to inauthenticity of virtual identity.
-Baudrillard’s concepts from his publication ‘Simulacra and Simulations’ used to describe simulations of reality and hyperreality of social media.
-Draw on how virtual identity is becoming further from the external reality and are the most real way we perceive people.
-Baudrillard’s Semiological theory will be used to explain why society values virtual identity of signs-value.
This essay explores the possibility of fusion, of becoming one with Siva, as it is expressed in the Vacanas (poems) of a 12th Century Siva devotee: Mahadevi. Considering the writings of Emmanuel Levinas and Jacques Lacan we can ask what it means to be liberated and to fulfil one’s desires in this way. Critically, we begin this essay with Levinas and discuss his conception of the self; how this self comes to be in relation to the other, and how freedom is to be understood. Following Levinas we investigate the notion of desire for Lacan, which requires a look into the Oedipus complex and the object petit a. In the final section of this essay, we attempt to find the position of Siva in relation to the subject and question whether fusion is finally possible. This will respond to what has been so far discussed in the hope of showing that Siva is not a being but is representative of the subject of my subjectivity – Levinas’ infinitely other – which is only attainable by being a self for the Other.
My project seeks to chart out an account of Dewey’s philosophy of education, relating to its practical application in the work of Lipman. I then present various current trends in the way that learning environments have changed both over the past few decades with reference to technological development, and in the last year with reference to the coronavirus pandemic. Ultimately, I argue that the main thing preventing a realization of Dewey’s democratic ideal is ‘datafication’, the phenomenon of reducing educational efficacy to quantifiable metrics and abstract information. Due to the insistence of Dewey and Lipman on education as a facilitation of meaningful experience, I hold, datafication makes the manifestation of any true practice of Deweyan pedagogy impossible.
This project looks at the question, ‘Is the age of social media marketing creating a warped sense of reality for Generation Z?’. This project explores and applies Baudrillard’s concepts of hyperreality as well as his theory of sign value, to the modern world of social media. As well as looking at areas such as fast fashion marketing and the effect social media can have on both mental health and our perception of reality.
Object/Territory – The concept of Law, how Natural Law Theory and Legal Positivism have shaped the English Legal System
Aim – Through a historical account I aim to provide a historical account of both Natural Law Theory and Legal Positivism in order to assess the impact that they have had on shaping the modern English Legal System
Main Sources – Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, John Austin, H. L. A Hart
In this essay I shall explore the very concept of law and morality as I look at the very concept of law, morality and how law is applied in order to argue that Natural Law Theory and Legal Positivism are the main driving forces behind the formation of a distinct English Legal System.
Heidegger understands death as the end to existence in the world. But with the presence and pursuit of posthumous legacy, is this accurately represented in modern secular society? This project explores the notion of legacy, investigating the way legacy can be understood as a continuation of existence after death, and establishing posthumous existence as a way of coming to terms with the fear of death. In opposition to Heidegger’s thought, this notion of legacy is explored by analysing the limitations of Heidegger’s notion of existence and the ‘being-towards-death’, and discussing the impact of Western religious beliefs regarding death and posthumous existence. The continuation of existence through posthumous legacy and the way this contradicts Heidegger’s thought by providing an alternative to the acceptance of mortality is supported by analysis of societal customs and traditions surrounding death in the world and the representation of death in literature.
Totalitarianism and Technocracy: A Jungian and Huxleyan analysis of the Spiritual Problem of Modern Man, the distortion of Myth, and the path to Liberation
Is rewilding compatible with veganism? Rewilding is a conservation effort which can contribute to the efforts of solving climate change. Due to the use of animals in rewilding, it raises questions for ethical vegans and so my territory is animal ethics. Through axiological critique, I intend to consider veganism from a deontological, consequentialist and virtue ethicist point of view and determine which is the best approach for practical matters, using rewilding as my object.
If children were brought into the world by an act of pure reason alone, would the human race continue to exist?” Schopenhauer
“Being brought into existence is not a benefit but always a harm” Benatar
“Our self-removal from this planet would still be a magnificent move… What do we have to lose?” Ligotti
This project will investigate the claim that human existence is a value.
There tends to be a given assumption that human existence is a good thing. I intend to question the validity of this and investigate whether it has valid justification.
The effects of human existence will be considered from three perspectives to determine whether human existence is worth its costs.
An ethical perspective will be used to evaluate the suffering and harm evoked by and for human beings.
An environmental perspective will contemplate the impact human beings have had on the planet and the detrimental effects caused.
A positive perspective will be adopted to investigate whether human beings deserve respect. It will be questioned if something would be lost without us.
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