Philosophical Anthropology, Human Nature and the Digital Culture
ABSTRACT: Within contemporary Western philosophy, the issues of human nature and our place in the cosmos have largely been ignored. In the resulting vacuum, the various subcultures that have grown up around the digital computer (the so-called "digital culture") have been actively defining and shaping popular conceptions of what it means to be human and the place of humanity in the digital era. Here one finds an implicit view of human nature that includes recurrent themes such as: an emphasis on mind as information independent of the physical body, the obsolescence of the human body, the elimination of human particularity, the malleability of human nature, and the logic and orderliness of the computer as a metaphor for the cosmos. This view of human nature shares important characteristics with Cartesian and Christian views of human nature long rejected by philosophers. A renewal of the philosophical anthropology movement — devoted to the issues of human nature and humanity's place in the cosmos — permits us to see the inadequacy of the conception of human nature implicit in the digital culture.
What am I that I am a human being? What is my place in the nature of things? At the close of the twentieth century, facing the dawn of a new millennium, the goal of paidea or philosophy educating humanity might best be achieved by philosophy recovering and reaffirming its interest in these two anthropological questions. In this essay I defend this claim through an analysis of the view of human nature implicit in the digital culture. For the past several decades, while philosophers have largely ignored anthropological issues, the sub-cultures swirling around computers and other digital technologies have been busy shaping and defining the way in which human nature will be conceived in the next millennium. More often than not, however, these views of human nature are produced in a philosophical and critical vacuum with little thought given to what we as human beings are and what we might become. Philosophers must address this vacuum by renewing their responsibility to speak to these issues, once again taking up the work of articulating a philosophical anthropology and providing the guidance on these issues that they once did.
Reflection on our nature as human beings and our place in the cosmos has a long tradition in philosophy throughout the world and has surely been a central concern in the history of Western philosophy.
People all around agree that technology is changing how we think, but is it changing us for the better? Clive Thompson definitely thinks so and this book is his collection of why that is. As an avid fiction reader I wasn’t sure this book would captivate me, but the 352 pages seemingly flew past me. The book is a whirlwind of interesting ideas, captivating people, and fascinating thoughts on how technology is changing how we work and think.
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rapid development of polymer chemistry after World War II a host of new synthetic fibers
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Originally, technology is an ontological mode of revealing beings in their Being, but modern society has heavily distorted this essence (QCT 319). This distortion comes with the danger of “overwhelming…all other possible ways of revealing” and thereby permanently concealing the true essence of technology (QCT 309). This danger can be removed via the realm of art, where Heidegger promises a mysterious “saving power” that will return modern man to technology’s essence. More accessibly, however we can find this saving power through technology itself and its reduction of humans to a mere standing reserve. In this state, humans experience the primordial moods of anxiety and profound boredom in which they withdraw from all relationships, thus allowing for the establishment of a free relationship to technology.
Post humanism emphasizes how humans have changed in the way we understand ourselves, and how we perceive our relationship to society and to the natural world. Transhumanism has gone a step further, believing that we must realize our potential to change what we are, that through the use of technology, we can actually transmute into something more than our present selves (Bognar, 2012). With the passing of each century, the connection between the human relationship to the natural world continues to change. In addition, our perception of the natural world changes too. Repeatedly, we emphasize what makes each human special, as well as what sets each of us apart, not only from each other, but from the natural
Steven Pinker lays the foundation for his book by highlighting three main philosophies that permeate society’s view of humanity and their historical context: The Blank Slate (empiricism), the Noble Savage (romanticism), and the Ghost in the Machine (dualism) (2002, p. 11). Pinker is correct to challenge previous philosophical frameworks as they skew the way scientific research has been conducted. Present-day scientific and social research will only benefit from an acknowledgement of innate human nature.
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In traditional philosophy, a human is limited based on categories like sex, race, orientation, and their abilities. One can see that these compositions are “building blocks” to the structure of that human. In contrast, the concepts of Posthumanism question the traditional ideals of what it is to be human. This school of thought rationalizes that we as humans are always changing and evolving with other forms of life and technology. In the book “Simians, Cyborgs, and Women; The Reinvention of Nature” the author, Donna Haraway, argues that we need to defy those categories that create and maintain that separation between our “selves” and others. This paper will explore Haraway’s ideals by surveying her book and relating her teachings to situations
Since human kind gained the ability of reflection we have questioned our purpose of existence. What makes a human, human? Four philosophers, representing four areas of Philosophy, attempt to answer this question. First is the Dutchman Soren Kierkegaard and his book Sickness unto Death, who is considered the “Father of Existentialism”. Prevalent through all of Kierkegaard’s work was his constant goal to move people closer to God and thus closer to discovering their authentic self. Therefore, our relationship with God is what makes us human. Next is Jeremy Rifkin and his book The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in A World in Crisis who believes that humanity is defined by our ability to empathize with other humans whether
There are different principles that makeup the crime control model. For example, guilt implied, legal controls minimal, system designed to aid police, and Crime fighting is key. However one fundamental principle that has been noted is that ‘the repression of criminal conduct is by far the most important function to be performed by the criminal processes’. (Packer, 1998, p. 4). This is very important, because it gives individuals a sense of safety. Without this claim the public trust within the criminal justice process would be very little. The general belief of the public is that those that are seen as a threat to society, as well as those that fails to conform to society norms and values should be separated from the rest of society, from individuals who choose to participate fully in society. Consequently, the crime control model pro...
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