scholarly journals The Transcendental and the Agonistic: A Media Philosophy Perspective

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Barker
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Technology ◽  
The Other ◽  
Problem Space ◽  
Critical Response ◽  
Multidimensional Problem ◽  
Media Philosophy ◽  
The One

AbstractThis critical response to Dominic Smith’s ‘Taking Exception: Philosophy of Technology as a Multidimensional Problem Space’ begins by outlining the key contributions of his essay, namely his insightful approach to the transcendental, on the one hand, and his introduction of the topological problem space as an image for thought, on the other. The response then suggests ways of furthering this approach by addressing potential reservations about determinism. The response concludes by suggesting a way out of these questions of determinism by thinking the transcendental in concert with the agonistic.

Approaches to a Concept of Simulation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inge Hinterwaldner
Keyword(s):  
Computer Simulation ◽  
Media Studies ◽  
Computer Simulations ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
The Other ◽  
Single Spectrum ◽  
Media Philosophy ◽  
Technical Sense ◽  
The One ◽  
Definition Of

It can be shown that the different conceptions of ‘simulation’ (the one of culture critique on the one hand and the denomination of technical applications on the other) that seem to be incompatible with each other can be reconciled on a single spectrum. Its basis in models, its replacement of reality, its lack of reference and of precession of the referent are some pejorative characteristics often emphasized in media philosophy with regard to simulations, for which the sciences applying computer simulations have no use for. It helps crossing over the views that first seem opposite to each other, but that turn out to be compatible if its root in reality is recognized and thus the representational logic is accepted at least according to the intention. The chapter combines ideas of the 'simulacrum' retrieved in the natural sciences with traces of cybernetic thinking in media studies. The whole study builds on a definition of computer simulation in the technical sense as the involvement with and the act of execution f a dynamic mathematic or procedural model that projects, depicts, or recreates a system or process.

The Technocene or Technology as (Neo)Environment

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agostino Cera ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Technology ◽  
The Other ◽  
Current Form ◽  
Nominative Case ◽  
The Core ◽  
The World ◽  
Conditio Humana ◽  
The One ◽  
Definition Of

Abstract: While putting forward the proposal of a “philosophy of technology in the nominative case,” grounded on the concept of Neoenvironmentality, this paper intends to argue that the best definition of our current age is not “Anthropocene.” Rather, it is “Technocene,” since technology represents here and now the real “subject of history” and of (a de-natured) nature, i.e. the (neo)environment where man has to live.This proposal culminates in a new definition of man’s humanity and of technology. Switching from natura hominis to conditio humana, the peculiarity of man can be defined on the basis of an anthropic perimeter, the core of which consists of man’s worldhood: man is that being that has a world (Welt), while animal has a mere environment (Umwelt). Both man’s worldhood and animal’s environmentality are derived from a pathic premise, namely the fundamental moods (Grundstimmungen) that refer them to their respective findingness (Befindlichkeit).From this anthropological premise, technology emerges as the oikos of contemporary humanity. Technology becomes the current form of the world – and so gives birth to a Technocene – insofar as it introduces in any human context its ratio operandi and so assimilates man to an animal condition, i.e. an environmental one. Technocene corresponds on the one side to the emergence of technology as (Neo)environment and on the other to the feralization of man. The spirit of Technocene turns out to be the complete redefinition of the anthropic perimeter.While providing a non-ideological characterization of the current age, this paper proposes the strategy of an ‘anthropological conservatism,’ that is to say a pathic desertion understood as a possible (pre)condition for the beginning of an authentic Anthropocene, i.e. the age of an-at-last-entirely-human-man.

scholarly journals Taking Exception: Philosophy of Technology as a Multidimensional Problem Space

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominic Smith
Keyword(s):  
Autonomous Vehicles ◽  
Philosophy Of Technology ◽  
Trolley Problem ◽  
Problem Space ◽  
Google Street View ◽  
Multidimensional Problem ◽  
Street View ◽  
Made In

AbstractThis essay develops three key claims made in my 2018 book, Exceptional Technologies. Part one argues for ‘trivialising the transcendental’, to remove stigmas attached to the word ‘transcendental’ in philosophy in general and philosophy of technology in particular. Part two outlines the concept of ‘exceptional technologies’. These are artefacts and practices that show up as limit cases for our received pictures of what constitutes a ‘technology’ (what I refer to as our ‘pictures of method’) and that force us to reassess the conditions for the possibility of these pictures. I focus on the case of autonomous vehicles here, arguing that Google Street View provides a relatively better picture for approaching philosophical issues at stake than the famous ‘Trolley Problem’. Part three then concludes with a focus on Heidegger’s ‘Question Concerning Technology’ essay. Heidegger asserts that philosophical questioning ‘builds a way’ (1977: 3). I argue that philosophical approaches to technologies might better be considered in terms of a multidimensional problem space.

scholarly journals Self-parodical consequences of operatic parody

New Sound ◽  
2013 ◽  
pp. 110-116
Author(s):  
Dragana Jeremić-Molnar
Keyword(s):  
American Culture ◽  
The Other ◽  
Avant Garde ◽  
Critical Response ◽  
Walt Disney ◽  
Philip Glass ◽  
Per Se ◽  
Failed Attempt ◽  
To Come ◽  
The One

With rare exceptions, the critical response to the opera The Perfect American, whose protagonist is Walt Disney, was lukewarm. For the most part, the critics blamed its modest result on Rudy Wurlitzer's libretto, described as incoherent, dramatically limited and lame, even boring. The input of the composer Philip Glass, the most distinguished name in the artistic team that created The Perfect American, received higher marks, but even those who praised some of his compositional solutions (and especially his trade skills) unanimously concluded that the music nevertheless had not reached a high enough level to compensate for the deficiencies in the libretto. In the interpretations available so far, the opera was generally understood to be a (failed) attempt at depicting Disney as an insufficiently talented person with an idea, who built his empire by shamelessly appropriating the merits of those who, thanks to their talents, were able to carry out his idea. The author in this text wants to show that the opera can be perceived in quite a different way: as an allegory of contemporary American culture, torn between its cosmopolitism and humanistic openness, on the one hand, and provincialism and parochial rigidity, on the other; this duality is encapsulated in Disney's character per se, hiding behind a porous façade of perfection. The text reads that Glass's music did not succeed in supporting this dimension of Wurlitzer's libretto, thus inadvertently adding a self-parodical layer to its parodical content. Since the composer failed to come to grips with the dramatic challenges he was facing, the music constantly circled in a hiatus between bold avant-garde pretensions and hackneyed forms of minimalist mannerism.

scholarly journals Necessity, Entailment, Shared Agonism

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominic Smith
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Technology ◽  
Short Paper ◽  
Problem Space ◽  
Turn On ◽  
Multidimensional Problem

AbstractThis short paper offers a series of responses to Jochem Zwier and Timothy Barker’s comments on my extended paper ‘Taking Exception: Philosophy of Technology as a Multidimensional Problem Space.’ Part one responds to questions concerning the modality of the renewed understanding of the theme of the transcendental that was argued for in my initial paper: I argue for the deep contingency of such a move, against any sense that it is necessary. Part two takes this consideration of modality further, considering the possibilities that a renewal of the theme of the transcendental stands to offer philosophy of technology today. I argue that the contingency of our contemporary sense of the transcendental can be precisely what makes it valuable. Whereas parts one and two turn on incisive questions posed by Zwier, part three closes by reconsidering the claims for a ‘multidimensional problem space’ offered in my initial paper. In response to an acute insight from Barker, I close by arguing that philosophy of technology’s problem space should be explored in terms of a notion of ‘shared agonism’.

scholarly journals Accepting the Exceptional?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jochem Zwier
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Technology ◽  
The Other ◽  
Social Constructivist ◽  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The One ◽  
Constructivist Approaches

AbstractThis commentary attempts to contribute to a further elucidation of Dominic Smith’s call for a rehabilitation of the transcendental in philosophy of technology. On the one hand, it focuses on why such a rehabilitation is deemed necessary, particularly in light of Smith’s diagnosis of a contemporary tendency towards reification and presentism. Postphenomenology is discussed as a challenge and invitation to further clarify the stakes. On the other hand, this commentary inquires into how Smith envisages the achievement of a rehabilitation of the transcendental. Further attention is given to Smith’s idea of a renewed sense of the transcendental. Following his own cues and situating this renewal in the philosophical tradition, the question whether the involved philosophical praxis should be primarily understood as political is brought to the fore. In so doing, Smith’s reading and extension of Luciano Floridi’s attempts to move beyond Kant receive special attention, since the transcendental is here understood in terms of conditions of feasibility. The challenge put to Smith is to contrast this approach with social-constructivist approaches on the one hand, and Stiegler’s thought regarding technics and the transcendental on the other. Finally, Smith’s commitment to taking exception is analyzed to ask how and which logic is at play there.

Note on Selection of Coordinate Systems for Geodynamics

1975 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 395-407
Author(s):  
S. Henriksen
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
The Other ◽  
Coordinate Systems ◽  
Mean Sea Level ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The One ◽  
Static Systems ◽  
Selection Of

The first question to be answered, in seeking coordinate systems for geodynamics, is: what is geodynamics? The answer is, of course, that geodynamics is that part of geophysics which is concerned with movements of the Earth, as opposed to geostatics which is the physics of the stationary Earth. But as far as we know, there is no stationary Earth – epur sic monere. So geodynamics is actually coextensive with geophysics, and coordinate systems suitable for the one should be suitable for the other. At the present time, there are not many coordinate systems, if any, that can be identified with a static Earth. Certainly the only coordinate of aeronomic (atmospheric) interest is the height, and this is usually either as geodynamic height or as pressure. In oceanology, the most important coordinate is depth, and this, like heights in the atmosphere, is expressed as metric depth from mean sea level, as geodynamic depth, or as pressure. Only for the earth do we find “static” systems in use, ana even here there is real question as to whether the systems are dynamic or static. So it would seem that our answer to the question, of what kind, of coordinate systems are we seeking, must be that we are looking for the same systems as are used in geophysics, and these systems are dynamic in nature already – that is, their definition involvestime.

Stories and the Self

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Krause ◽  
Markus Appel
Keyword(s):  
Meta Analysis ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Other ◽  
Lower Degree ◽  
Contrast Effects ◽  
Self Perception ◽  
Self Perceptions ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The One ◽  
Implicit And Explicit

Abstract. Two experiments examined the influence of stories on recipients’ self-perceptions. Extending prior theory and research, our focus was on assimilation effects (i.e., changes in self-perception in line with a protagonist’s traits) as well as on contrast effects (i.e., changes in self-perception in contrast to a protagonist’s traits). In Experiment 1 ( N = 113), implicit and explicit conscientiousness were assessed after participants read a story about either a diligent or a negligent student. Moderation analyses showed that highly transported participants and participants with lower counterarguing scores assimilate the depicted traits of a story protagonist, as indicated by explicit, self-reported conscientiousness ratings. Participants, who were more critical toward a story (i.e., higher counterarguing) and with a lower degree of transportation, showed contrast effects. In Experiment 2 ( N = 103), we manipulated transportation and counterarguing, but we could not identify an effect on participants’ self-ascribed level of conscientiousness. A mini meta-analysis across both experiments revealed significant positive overall associations between transportation and counterarguing on the one hand and story-consistent self-reported conscientiousness on the other hand.

Radioimmunotherapy for treatment of acute myeloid leukaemia and myelodysplastic syndrome

2005 ◽  
Vol 44 (03) ◽  
pp. 107-117
Author(s):  
R. G. Meyer ◽  
W. Herr ◽  
A. Helisch ◽  
P. Bartenstein ◽  
I. Buchmann
Keyword(s):  
Acute Myeloid Leukaemia ◽  
Myeloid Leukaemia ◽  
Primary Tumour ◽  
The Other ◽  
Haematopoietic Stem Cell ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Primary Reduction ◽  
The One ◽  
Acute Myeloid

SummaryThe prognosis of patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) has improved considerably by introduction of aggressive consolidation chemotherapy and haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (SCT). Nevertheless, only 20-30% of patients with AML achieve long-term diseasefree survival after SCT. The most common cause of treatment failure is relapse. Additionally, mortality rates are significantly increased by therapy-related causes such as toxicity of chemotherapy and complications of SCT. Including radioimmunotherapies in the treatment of AML and myelodyplastic syndrome (MDS) allows for the achievement of a pronounced antileukaemic effect for the reduction of relapse rates on the one hand. On the other hand, no increase of acute toxicity and later complications should be induced. These effects are important for the primary reduction of tumour cells as well as for the myeloablative conditioning before SCT.This paper provides a systematic and critical review of the currently used radionuclides and immunoconjugates for the treatment of AML and MDS and summarizes the literature on primary tumour cell reductive radioimmunotherapies on the one hand and conditioning radioimmunotherapies before SCT on the other hand.

Das Ende der Postdemokratie, den Pessimismus überwinden.

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (188) ◽  
pp. 487-494
Author(s):  
Daniel Mullis
Keyword(s):  
Political Thought ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Social Conditions ◽  
The Other ◽  
Economic Decline ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Windows Of Opportunity ◽  
Political Events ◽  
Political Struggles ◽  
The One

In recent years, political and social conditions have changed dramatically. Many analyses help to capture these dynamics. However, they produce political pessimism: on the one hand there is the image of regression and on the other, a direct link is made between socio-economic decline and the rise of the far-right. To counter these aspects, this article argues that current political events are to be understood less as ‘regression’ but rather as a moment of movement and the return of deep political struggles. Referring to Jacques Ranciere’s political thought, the current conditions can be captured as the ‘end of post-democracy’. This approach changes the perspective on current social dynamics in a productive way. It allows for an emphasis on movement and the recognition of the windows of opportunity for emancipatory struggles.

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