The Technocene or Technology as (Neo)Environment

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agostino Cera ◽  

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.

2007 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-147
Author(s):  
Gerd Theissen

It is a modern conviction that religion and emotion belong together. It would be an anachronism to presuppose a priori such a connection in pre-modern times. The article shows that the definition of religious experience as mysterium fascinosum et tremendum (R.Otto) is not anachronistic. Biblical texts express an emotional ambivalence of fear and joy when speaking on God. On the one hand, we may explain this ambivalence with the help of evolutionary psychology as part of the universal conditio humana; on the other hand, fear and joy are culturally and historically conditioned. The article gives a sketch of the history and diversity of these emotions in biblical texts and underlines the connection between emotions and rituals.


2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
Jarosław Hetman

<p>The article explores the ancient notion of ekphrasis in an attempt to redefine it and to adjust it to the requirements of the contemporary literary and artistic landscape. An overview of the transformations in the world of art in the 20<sup>th</sup> century allows us to adjust our understanding of what art is today and to examine its existence within the literary context. In light of the above, I postulate a broadening of the definition of ekphrasis so as to include not only painting and sculpture on the one side, and poetry on the other, but also to open it up to less conventional forms of artistic expression, and allow for its use in reference to prose. In order to illustrate its relevance to the novel, I have conducted a study of three contemporary novels – John Banville’s <em>Athena</em>, Kurt Vonnegut’s <em>Bluebeard</em> and Don DeLillo’s <em>Mao II </em>– in order to uncover the innovative ways in which novelists nowadays use ekphrasis to reinvigorate long prose.</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 62-78
Author(s):  
Emiliano Minerba

This paper discusses the character of King Juha, the protagonist of the comedy Mfalme Juha by Farouk Topan, using an approach that considers the humoristic dimension of this character. The definition of humorism employed here is that given by Pirandello: the result of an aesthetic process in which the comic effect deriving from an object of laughter is tempered and contrasted by a “sentiment of the contrary” that observes and builds empathy with the inner contradictions of the object itself. After a short outline of Mfalme Juha’s critical history which shows that the humoristic dimension of King Juha has never been considered in critiques, this paper focuses on an analysis of this character, in which the core feature of egocentricity is identified. Juha’s egocentricity and its humoristic nature are analysed in the character’s relationship with his subjects as their king and in his idea of art and culture; in both cases it is shown that what is important is not the wickedness or egoism of Juha, but his lack of comprehension of the world. Juha is incapable of understanding his environment and other people, since he can not doubt his own superiority: this puts him in several comic situations, but on the other hand makes him a victim of his smart subjects, so that he arouses a feeling of sympathy in which Pirandello’s sentiment of the contrary can be traced.


1997 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-88
Author(s):  
Joseph Prabhu

There is a crisis of work in contemporary technological society. Afunctional definition of work feeds, and is fed by, an economico-technological ideology that valorizes the cult of productivity and of "total work". This in turn reflects a utilitarian conception of the human being, whose worth is now measured in terms of his or her contribution to total "output". Gandhi was one of the sharpest critics of this notion of man and society; he sees it as materialistic, soulless and fundamentally violent. In its place he proposes a moral conception of work that reflects his spiritual view of the human person. E.F. Schumacher takes Gandhi's ideas further in terms of an organization of economic life that promotes simplicity, beauty, social responsibility and ecological sustainability. The phenomenon of globalization heightens the stark contrast between the world-views of Gandhi and Schumacher on the one hand, and that of global capitalism on the other.


1970 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-107
Author(s):  
Наталія Савелюк

У статті обґрунтовується поняття "релігійної дискурсивної особистості" через послідовний теоретичний аналіз трьох основних його семантичних складників – "релігійності", "особистості", "дискурсу" та виокремлення їх психологічних аспектів. Зокрема, пропонується робоче визначення дискурсу із зазначеними аспектами: з одного боку, когнітивно-мовленнєвої активності у конкретній соціально-комунікативній ситуації, що передбачає рецепцію, передавання та/або творення (співтворення) певних текстів у певному їх контексті; з іншого боку – процесу і результату мотиваційно-смислового вибору (сукупності таких виборів) кожного його суб’єкта у поточній життєвій ситуації. На основі проведеного теоретичного аналізу й узагальнення його результатів релігійна дискурсивна особистість розглядається як людина, котра вірить у Бога або, щонайменше, внутрішньо приймає ідею Його буття і відповідним чином розуміє (як реципієнт) та/або конструює (як автор) релігійні дискурси, а вже через них – і саму себе, весь навколишній світ чи окремі його складники. Обґрунтовується, що релігійна дискурсивна особистість – це не просто носій колективного релігійного досвіду, зокрема в етно-національних його форматах (як мовна особистість), а активний індивідуальний співАвтор, що динамічно відтворює, конструює і презентує власну мовно-релігійну картину світу. In the article the concept of a "religious discursive personality" through consistent theoretical analysis of its three main semantic components ("religiosity", "personality", "discourse") is substantiated and their psychological aspects are singled out. In particular, the author proposes a working definition of discourse through distinguishing the following aspects: on one hand, a cognitive-verbal activity in a particular social and communicative situation, involving the reception, transferring and / or creation (co-creation) of certain texts in their particular context; and on the other hand, the process and result of motivational-semantic choice (the set of such choices) of each individual in the current life situation. On the basis of the theoretical analysis and the generalization of its results a religious discursive personality is considered to be a person who believes in God, or at least inwardly accepts the idea of his entity and properly comprehends (as a recipient) and / or constructs (as an author) various religious discourses, and through them a person comprehends himself/herself, the surrounding world or some of its components. It is substantiated that a religious discursive personality is not just the one that has a collective religious experience, in particular in its ethno-national spheres (as a linguistic personality does), but it is treated as an active individual co-author, that dynamically recreates, constructs and represents his/her own linguistic and religious image of the world.


2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mattia Thibault

The aim of the article is to introduce an approach to play based on semiotics of culture and, in particular, grounded in the works and ideas of Juri Lotman. On the one hand, it provides an overview of Lotman’s works dedicated to play and games, starting from his article on art among other modelling systems, in which the phenomenon of play is treated deeply, and mentioning Lotman’s articles dedicated to various forms of play forms, such as involving dolls and playing cards. On the other hand, it applies a few Lotmanian theories and ideas to playfulness in order to shed some light on this highly debated, as well as intriguing, anthropic activity. Thus, the paper approaches some of the core questions for a play theory, such as the definition of play, the cultural role of toys and playthings, the importance of unpredictability, the position held by playfulness in the semiosphere and, finally, the differences and commonalities between play and art. Lotman’s theories and works, often integrated by other existing semiotic or ludologic perspectives offer an extremely insightful and fresh take on play and illustrate the great heuristic potential of semiotics of culture.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Tran

Within the last decade, there has been a steady growth of literature discussing the benefits of internationalising curricula, strategies for making curricula more international and the impact this can have on students’ experience during their time at university and beyond in the world of work. ‘[I]nternationalisation of the curriculum seeks on the one hand to adapt course syllabi as well as teaching and assessment methods to the needs of students who come together from all over the world, bringing with them a plethora of views, cultures, and experiences with learning and teaching; on the other hand, the globalised job market and global political and cultural interactions demand a new style of Higher Education’ (University of Essex, 2012, p.7). The latter definition of internationalising the curriculum thus has clear connections to the argument for decolonising the curriculum, which has been gaining momentum within the critical sphere. Yet the definition for decolonisation curricula continues to be debated. While the internationalising and decolonising of curricula both call for a review of course content and delivery in light of the diverse body of students in our classrooms, I have found there to be at times a slight hesitancy among academics towards employing the phrase ‘decolonising the curriculum’ and fully engaging with conversations around this topic.


Comunicar ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (52) ◽  
pp. 29-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
María-Luisa Novo ◽  
Ángel Alsina ◽  
José-María Marbán ◽  
Ainhoa Berciano

The construction of a connective brain begins at the earliest ages of human development. However, knowledge about individual and collective brains provided so far by research has been rarely incorporated into Maths in Early Childhood classrooms. In spite of that, it is obvious that it is at these ages when the learning of mathematics acts as a nuclear element for decision- making, problem -solving, data- processing and the understanding of the world. From that perspective, this research aims to analyse the mathematics teaching-learning process at early ages based on connectionism, with the specific objectives being, on the one hand, to determine the features of mathematics practices which promote connections and, on the other hand, to identify different types of mathematics connections to enhance connective intelligence. The research was carried out over two consecutive academic years under an interpretative paradigm with a methodological approach combining Action Research and Grounded Theory. The results obtained allow the characterization of a prototype of a didactic sequence that promotes three types of mathematics connections for the development of connective intelligence in young children: conceptual, giving rise to links between mathematics concepts; teaching, linking mathematics concepts through an active methodology, and practical ones connecting maths with the environment. La construcción de un cerebro conectivo comienza en las edades más tempranas del desarrollo humano. Sin embargo, el conocimiento que ya se tiene sobre los cerebros individual y colectivo apenas se ha incorporado en el desarrollo del pensamiento matemático en Educación Infantil, donde comienzan a gestarse elementos clave para tomar decisiones, resolver problemas de la vida cotidiana, tratar con datos y comprender el entorno. Desde esta perspectiva la presente investigación marca como objetivo general analizar el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje de las matemáticas en Educación Infantil a partir del conexionismo, considerando como objetivos específicos, por un lado, determinar las características de una práctica matemática que promueva las conexiones y, por otro lado, identificar los distintos tipos de conexiones matemáticas para fomentar la inteligencia conectiva. La investigación se lleva a cabo a lo largo de dos años consecutivos bajo un paradigma interpretativo con un enfoque metodológico basado en el uso combinado de Investigación-Acción y Teoría Fundamentada. Los resultados han permitido concretar un prototipo de actividad o conjunto de actividades que, en forma de secuencia didáctica, promueve tres tipos de conexiones matemáticas para desarrollar la inteligencia conectiva en Educación Infantil: conceptuales, que producen nexos entre contenidos matemáticos diversos; docentes, que vinculan diversos conceptos matemáticos a través de una metodología activa y de vivenciar las experiencias matemáticas con otras materias; y prácticas, que relacionan las matemáticas con el entorno.


Literatūra ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-124
Author(s):  
Eleonora Lassan

In 2015, Vremya Publishing House issued A Flute Solo, a book by V. Shenderovich, a multigenre and, according to the author of the article, intermedial work, since the peculiarities of the content of a political satire and a tragedy, a farce and a fantasy on the one hand and some features of musical pieces, a fugue in particular, on the other hand, have merged there. The author provides a detailed characterization of the plot, constructed as a grotesque depiction of the reality, the composition as relating a verbal text to a piece of music, and the symbolic value of certain elements, allowing not to agree to the definition of the book as being “desperately hopeless”.


2013 ◽  
Vol 554-557 ◽  
pp. 1116-1124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurent Tabourot ◽  
Pascale Balland ◽  
Mathieu Vautrot ◽  
Odd Sture Hopperstad ◽  
Jonathan Raujol-Veillé ◽  
...  

This article discusses the characterization and modeling of the elastic behavior of a semi-hard steel used in incremental forming operations which implies great loading speeds at high temperatures and large springback after each passage of the roller. The knowledge of the elastic behavior is essential to correctly predict these springbacks during forming. The objective is therefore on the one hand the characterization of the elastic response of the material under different conditions and on the other hand the definition of a model that describes the material behavior with as much precision as possible. To this end, two models, one phenomenological and the other built on more physical basis, are considered.


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