Publications

The public thing

Author(s)
Mark Coeckelbergh
Abstract

Is there a politics of artifacts, and if so, what does it mean? Defining the issue as a problem about the relation between the human and the non-human, I argue that our common philosophical concepts bar us from an adequate understanding of this problem. Using the work of Hannah Arendt and Bruno Latour, I explore an escape route that involves a radical redefinition of the social. But the cost of this solution is high: we would lose the metaphysical foundation for our belief in the absolute value and dignity of humans. We should pay that prize only if we gain a better understanding of what we are doing and what we want to do together - with things.

Organisation(s)
Department of Philosophy
External organisation(s)
University of Twente
Journal
Research in Philosophy and Technology
Volume
13
Pages
175-181
No. of pages
7
ISSN
0161-7249
Publication date
2009
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
603113 Philosophy
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Philosophy, History and Philosophy of Science
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/7c2410cc-e82a-468c-8a57-b1e6fa953ac0