Jędrzej Maliński
(Institute of Philosophy, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań)
Abstract:
Gilbert Simondon in his seminal work On the Mode of Existence of Technical Objects creates a psycho-physiological philosophy of alienation based upon his notion of technical individual. Simondon – just like others before him – situates the alienation in context of 19th-century industrialization, when the technical individual (machine) replaced the human individual as a tool-bearer. In opposition to Marx, however, Simondon claims that the human mode of being as an individual is necessarily connected with its status as a technical individual. Hence, the resulting alienation (or, as Bernard Stiegler calls it, ‘proletarization’) is not only economical oppression of working class, but rather the problem on the level of the human individuation in industrial age. According to Simondon, both the working class and the owners of means of production are equally affected by this process, since the former are pushed below the level of a technical individual and the latter are staying above the technical individuality (and since the creative activity emerges only on the individual level, they are unable to grasp the current state-of-affairs without individuation as technical individuals). Simondon appeals for creation a new technical culture, based on ‘mechanology’ – the post-cybernetic way of rethinking the technology which should allow to create a new technical individuality as mediators between non-human technical individuals. Simondon’s oeuvre is important in the terms of post-digitality, as he was one of the first thinkers who created a philosophy of technical objects – and technical objects are crucial when trying to define the post-digital condition. On the other hand, the rise of the IT in the ‘80s made many parts of his project outdated. In my presentation I intend to analyse what his notion of alienation can do when applied to the post-digital notion of work.
Jędrzej Maliński is trying to finish his PhD about the notion of technical object in the contemporary philosophy. He studies in Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. His research interest are expanding outside the field of my PhD into post – and transhumanism, alt-right movement, critical theory and post-structuralism.