Thinking technology for the Anthropocene: encountering 3D printing through the philosophy of Gilbert Simondon

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Roberts
Keyword(s):  
3D Printing ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Anthropogenic Change ◽  
Technological Processes ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Social ◽  
Human Thinking ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Gilbert Simondon ◽  
Do So

The notion that the Earth has entered a new epoch characterized by the ubiquity of anthropogenic change presents the social sciences with something of a paradox, namely, that the point at which we recognize our species to be a geologic force is also the moment where our assumed metaphysical privilege becomes untenable. Cultural geography continues to navigate this paradox in conceptually innovative ways through its engagements with materialist philosophies, more-than-human thinking and experimental modes of ontological enquiry. Drawing upon the philosophy of Gilbert Simondon, this article contributes to these timely debates by articulating the paradox of the Anthropocene in relation to technological processes. Simondon’s philosophy precedes the identification of the Anthropocene epoch by a number of decades, yet his insistence upon situating technology within an immanent field of material processes resonates with contemporary geographical concerns in a number of important ways. More specifically, Simondon’s conceptual vocabulary provides a means of framing our entanglements with technological processes without assuming a metaphysical distinction between human beings and the forces of nature. In this article, I show how Simondon’s concepts of individuation and transduction intersect with this technological problematic through his far-reaching critique of the ‘hylomorphic’ distinction between matter and form. Inspired by Simondon’s original account of the genesis of a clay brick, the article unfolds these conceptual challenges through two contrasting empirical encounters with 3D printing technologies. In doing so, my intention is to lend an affective consistency to Simondon’s problematic, and to do so in a way that captures the kinds of material mutations expressive of a particular technological moment.

Conclusion

2021 ◽  
pp. 177-188
Author(s):  
Beth Cykowski
Keyword(s):  
Human Existence ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Geological Time ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Mode Of Being ◽  
Do So

Heidegger argues in The Fundamental Concepts of Metaphysics (FCM) that the world of Dasein is not a neat capsule of entities that are always available; it is ‘ruptured’ by a fundamental finitude that impels it to develop its own anchoring in physis. The temporality of human existence is staged against the backdrop of absolute, geological time, the time of earthly entities, insofar as human beings are finite organisms that are temporally bounded to a particular lifespan. But this ‘terrestrial’ time is discernible only from the perspective of a mode of being that takes time as such into account. Our conceptions of the dawn of time and the timespan of the earth, as Schalow says, always ‘derive their relevance from Dasein’s mode of historicalness, and ultimately, from the history of being itself. To the extent that we can refer to “geological time”, a time of the earth, the ability to do so still hinges upon the possibility of an awareness of such terrestrial origins, of the ...

scholarly journals SOCIAL PROBLEMS AND ENVIRONMENT

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (9SE) ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Mani Kant ◽  
Shobha Shouche
Keyword(s):  
Effective Means ◽  
Living Standards ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The People ◽  
Rich Diversity ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Over Exploitation

Without self-understanding we cannot hope for Enduring solutions to environ­mental problems, Which are fundamentally human problems. —Yi-Fu Tuan, 1974                                                           Human beings interact both with the social world and nature. Both, economic development and stable environment are required for the continual improvement of lifestyle and living standards of the people in the society and for the Earth Community as a whole. But until now, the development was human oriented and limited to rich nations. The development was achieved by damaging the environment and over exploitation of natural resources which were nonrenewable. That caused instability of environment and crossed the threshold limit of environmental damage. The major challenge of our times is to find new and practical ways of drawing inspiration from the rich diversity of human experience as well as modern scientific insights in order to establish effective means of governing human behavior to ensure that we contribute to the prosperity of the whole Earth Community instead of destroying it.

scholarly journals The Buddhism Morality in The Epic Manimekalai

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 117-122
Author(s):  
Hemalatha M
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Social

Manimekalai is one of the five biggest epics. Its religious principle denotes that love and charity are the two eyes of the human life. Love all the human beings in the earth is the major principle of Buddhism. Live without any desire is the noble principle of Manimekalai. The highest altitude and goal of this poetry is Love. Restoration and realization of mankind is the highest doctrine of humanity. We realize the social outlook and voice of humanity by the author Saathanar in this manimekalai epic. The author registered the cruelty of hunger by the character "Theeva Thilakai".

The Monstrosity of Human Rights

PMLA ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 121 (5) ◽  
pp. 1558-1565
Author(s):  
Eduardo Cadava
Keyword(s):  
Frederick Douglass ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
American Democracy ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Moral Power ◽  
History Of ◽  
National Ideology ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The Right

Fellow citizens! I will not enlarge further on your national inconsistencies. The existence of slavery in this country brands your republicanism as a sham, your humanity as a base pretence, and your Christianity as a lie. It destroys your moral power abroad; it corrupts your politicians at home … it makes your name a hissing, and a byword to a mocking earth. It is the antagonistic force in your government…. It fetters your progress; it is the enemy of improvement, the deadly foe of education; it fosters pride; it breeds insolence; it promotes vice; it shelters crime; it is a curse to the earth that supports it; and yet, you cling to it, as if it were the sheet anchor of all your hopes. Oh! be warned! be warned! a horrible reptile is coiled up in your nation's bosom; the venomous creature is nursing at the tender breast of your youthful republic: for the love of God, tear away and fling from you this hideous monster, and let the weight of twenty million crush and destroy it forever.—Frederick Douglass“What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” (383–84)In his now famous address on the meaning of the Fourth of July to the slave, Frederick Douglass seeks to delineate the various ways in which the persistence of slavery in a nation that was founded on the virtues of freedom, liberty, and equality produces a national ideology traversed by ambiguities, tensions, and contradictions. Suggesting that the experience of freedom cannot be thought apart from that of slavery, that abstract equality can only be imagined alongside the story of black subjection, he argues that these inconsistencies have two consequences. They derail the course of American democracy, and they leave their most painful and material consequences on the lives and bodies of the slaves without whom the narratives of freedom and equality could never be written. This is why he often refers to the violence, inequality, economic oppression, and racist exclusions that have harmed and devastated so many human beings in the history of America and the history of the world. For Douglass, America finds itself in mourning the moment slavery exists, populations are removed, dispossessed, or exterminated, wealth is distributed unequally, acts of discrimination are committed in the name of democracy and freedom, and rights are withheld—and what it mourns is America itself. As he tells us in his Fourth of July oration, this mourning belongs to the long history of efforts to actualize equality, to realize, that is, the promise of the right to representation for everyone, of an America that to this day still does not exist, which is why it must always be mourned. “I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary!” he writes. “Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us…. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me… . This Fourth [of] July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn” (“What to the Slave” 368).

Love

2021 ◽  
pp. 262-280
Author(s):  
Frederick V. Simmons
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Social Ethics ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Reinhold Niebuhr ◽  
Christian Realism ◽  
The Social ◽  
God's Love ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Widespread Interest ◽  
Do So

Reinhold Niebuhr regarded love as the law of human nature. He interpreted that love as agape, identified it with God’s love, and claimed that Jesus revealed it as universal, self-transcending, forgiving, non-resistant, and sacrificial. According to Niebuhr such love produces harmony yet humans inevitably succumb to something less. This inveterate shortcoming grounded Niebuhr’s Christian Realism and concentrated his social ethics on justice, which he related to love dialectically. It also shaped Niebuhr’s exposition of the Christian Gospel as primarily disclosure of God’s forgiveness, which enables human beings to love self-transcendently and thus fulfil their nature by freeing them from their failure to do so. Niebuhr’s account of love stimulated widespread interest in the topic and extensive criticism of his proposals. Nonetheless, Niebuhr argued that the paradoxical relationship of sacrificial and mutual love in history validated that account and the social ethics and soteriology he connected to it.

scholarly journals HUMAN BEINGS’ BIRTH, DEATH AND BEYOND

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 404-414
Author(s):  
Y. V. Subba Rao
Keyword(s):  
Human Being ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Subtle Body ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Born Again ◽  
Life On Earth ◽  
Connecting The Dots ◽  
Human Birth ◽  
Birth Death

Everything in the physical creation, including the human body, is composed of the five great natural elements called ‘Panchabhutas’. These elements have originated in a particular order of ‘akāsh’ (ether) to the last element ‘prithivi’ (earth) and the birth as a human being, which is exceedingly rare, is thus born on earth with its matching fundamental frequency of the earth. As the existing literature is quite unclear regarding the human birth, death and beyond, it is attempted to show a plausible way connecting the dots of the process of birth, death, rebirth and liberation based on vibrations of frequency of mind, word, and deed. The final moments of death, step by step, where these pancha- bhutas are dissolved, in the reverse order of their formation, following the chakra system (wheels of energy) of Kundalini in a human being, similar to DNA, withdrawing the soul from the base (mulādhāra) upwards.  Subtle bodies (sookshma sarira) and soul have infinite possibilities for their onward journey at the moment of death go to the dimension that corresponds to how one lived one’s life on Earth. The subtle body finds its dimension and level of frequency according to merits of purity of the subtle body derived by one’s life’s activities rise to higher lokas for enjoying the fruits of good actions or attain liberation or to be reborn. An enlightened soul attains liberation from bondage as in the case of Swāmi Vivekānanda, and also has the freedom to be born again or not.

scholarly journals The shift from Media Art to the Future Art-Design-Think-Tank

Lumina ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-161
Author(s):  
Ludger Pfanz
Keyword(s):  
Digital Technology ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Think Tank ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Future ◽  
Experimental Laboratory ◽  
Do So

In the coming decades, new technologies will change our lives and the way in which we perceive them in hitherto unimaginable ways.Future Design is acreative collusion of science, technology and art– an experimental laboratory for new art forms and perspectives on the social impact of technologies within Europe.Future Design explores the future of digital technology from atoms to bits and from bits back to atoms again, highlighting the ways in which these technologies are adapted in different cultural contexts. The chief objective is to attract widespread attention to these technologies, to generate debates and interest in their use among independent artists and otherwise under-represented groups.Future Design provides new and critical views on imagination and new insights into reality.In view of the risks and possible collateral damage connected to these new technologies, scientist and artist must make a stand for their values, and do so by openly discussing the potential and risks, and by formulating a vision for the Earth and BEYOND.

scholarly journals Transformative cosmopolitan education and Gandhi's relevance today

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregor Lang-Wojtasik
Keyword(s):  
Basic Education ◽  
Transformative Education ◽  
The Self ◽  
Global Learning ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Reading And Writing ◽  
The Social ◽  
Transformative Process ◽  
Cosmopolitan Education ◽  
Do So

The understanding of transformative education in this article is based on the principles and practice of global learning. Globalization is understood as a transformative process creating challenges for society, human beings and education. Global learning, framed within sustainability and justice, is understood as a way of handling the transformative challenges of a world society. It is embedded in processes of European history. In this way, it is possible to see global learning as world societal literacy that goes beyond reading and writing, and to understand it as another level of enlightenment. To do so, I refer to the social, philosophical and educational ideas of M. K. Gandhi, also known as Mahatma ('great soul') (1869–1948), which still create a basis for reformoriented concepts of basic education, literacy and sociopolitical literacy in India today. These are historical concepts concerning transformation of the self and education as a means of handling transformative societies beyond an existing understanding of Western civilization in a systematic way. The concluding concept of transformative cosmopolitan education presents World Nai Talim as a basis for an enlightenment that is equally applicable to both the Global South and North.

scholarly journals O curso Pedagogia da Terra como estratégia formativa e de enfrentamento à exclusão dos jovens do campo / The earth pedagogy course as a formative strategy...

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 103
Author(s):  
Vinicius Oliveira Seabra Guimarães ◽  
Aldimar Jacinto Duarte
Keyword(s):  
Urban Education ◽  
Social Movements ◽  
Young People ◽  
Field Education ◽  
Pedagogical Practice ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Social ◽  
Education Model ◽  
Faculty Of Education ◽  
Do So

O presente artigo tem como objetivo analisar o curso de Pedagogia da Terra que foi ofertado pela Faculdade de Educação da Universidade Federal de Goiás nos anos de 2007 a 2011, entendendo ser este curso uma ação de fortalecimento dos pressupostos defendidos pelos movimentos sociais do campo em relação à garantia de direitos dos jovens do campo. A abordagem visa reiterar que a educação urbana não atende às especificidades e espacialidades educativas dos sujeitos do campo. Para tanto, se faz necessário uma prática pedagógica específica e contextualizada, visando assim fornecer condições de emancipação dos jovens campesinos. Conclui-se que ao longo dos anos houve avanços significativos no modelo de educação do campo, sendo que iniciativas como a do curso de Pedagogia da Terra (FE/UFG) vêm a fortalecer as práticas educativas e a cultura campesina, especialmente na região do centro-oeste brasileiro. Contudo, considera-se como necessário investigar os impactos sociais de tais ações pedagógicas dos concluintes do curso nos percursos formativos dos jovens que habitam o campo.Palavras-chave: Jovens; Pedagogia da Terra; Movimentos Sociais do Campo. ABSTRACT: This article aims to analyze the Pedagogy of the Earth course that was offered by the Faculty of Education of the Federal University of Goiás in the years 2007 to 2011, understanding that this course is an action to strengthen the assumptions defended by the social movements of the field in relation guarantee the rights of young people in the countryside. The approach aims to reiterate that urban education does not meet the specificities and educational spatiality of rural subjects. In order to do so, a specific pedagogical practice is necessary and contextualized, aiming to provide conditions for the emancipation of young peasants. It is concluded that over the years there have been significant advances in the field education model, and initiatives such as the Pedagogy of the Earth (FE / UFG) course have strengthened educational practices and peasant culture, especially in the Brazilian midwest. However, it is considered as necessary to investigate the social impacts of such pedagogical actions of the graduates of the course on the formative courses of the young people who live in the field.Keywords: Young; Pedagogy of the Earth; Social movements of the countryside.

scholarly journals We are creative – are you?

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
Caroline Dickson ◽  
◽  
Kate Sanders ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Care ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Care Services ◽  
The Arts ◽  
The Social ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
The World ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Workplace Cultures ◽  
Do So

When thinking about this editorial, we knew we wanted to say something about creativity. Working creatively is a valuable means of accessing embodied knowledge and new insights about ourselves, our practice and our workplace cultures that can be used to inform development and transformation. However, being new to writing editorials, we first decided to have a look back through the journal’s editorial archives and seek the wisdom of previous authors. In doing so, it was interesting to see that our first Academic Editor, Professor Jan Dewing, had written an editorial about being creative back in May 2012; we encourage you to have a look. Jan began: ‘Yet again I recently heard someone saying they weren’t a creative person... ’and this is something we both experience when working with others. Is this because the word creativity is perceived to refer to the arts – for example, crafting, painting, movement and music – rather than a broader understanding, as suggested by the dictionary definition below: ‘The ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination ’(dictionary.com). Taking this more expansive perspective opens up the possibility for us all to perceive ourselves as inherently creative. It could be argued that this creativity has come to the fore as we have adapted to new ways of living and working during the Covid-19 pandemic. While this crisis has brought huge uncertainty and challenge right across the complex mix of health and social care services, what has been remarkable is the ability people have shown to change their ways of working, to seek solutions – and to do so at pace. We believe this reflects the creative nature of human beings/persons. Oliver (2009) argues that creativity is everywhere, as humans and the world are constantly engaged in a process of making. He contends that we should view creativity as ‘openness’, which is person-oriented (Massey and Munt, 2009). In this way, we create the possibility for participatory exploration of the social, cultural and embodied context, and for improvisation and transformation, by engaging in people’s ‘interests, curiosities and passions ’(Massey and Munt, 2009, p 305).

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