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Elements of a Philosophy of Technology: On the Evolutionary History of Culture (Posthumanities #99)
by Siegfried Zielinski Leif Weatherby Ernst Kapp Jeffrey West KirkwoodThe first philosophy of technology, constructing humans as technological and technology as an underpinning of all culture Ernst Kapp was a foundational scholar in the fields of media theory and philosophy of technology. His 1877 Elements of a Philosophy of Technology is a visionary study of the human body and its relationship with the world that surrounds it. At the book’s core is the concept of “organ projection”: the notion that humans use technology in an effort to project their organs to the outside, to be understood as “the soul apparently stepping out of the body in the form of a sending-out of mental qualities” into the world of artifacts.Kapp applies this theory of organ projection to various areas of the material world—the axe externalizes the arm, the lens the eye, the telegraphic system the neural network. From the first tools to acoustic instruments, from architecture to the steam engine and the mechanic routes of the railway, Kapp’s analysis shifts from “simple” tools to more complex network technologies to examine the projection of relations. What emerges from Kapp’s prophetic work is nothing less than the emergence of early elements of a cybernetic paradigm.
On Doubt
by Siegfried Zielinski Vilém Flusser Rodrigo Maltez NovaesIn On Doubt, Vilém Flusser refines Martin Heidegger's famous declaration that "language is the dwelling of Being." For Flusser, "the word is the dwelling of being," because in fact, in the beginning, there was the word. On Doubt is a treatise on the human intellect, its relation to language, and the reality-forming discourses that subsequently emerge. For Flusser, the faith that the modern age places in Cartesian doubt plays a role similar to the one that faith in God played in previous eras--a faith that needs to be challenged. Descartes doubts the world through his proposition cogito ergo sum, but leaves doubt itself untouched as indubitable and imperious. His cogito ergo sum may have proved to the Western intellect that thoughts exist, but it did not prove the existence of that which thinks: one can eliminate thinking and yet continue being.Therefore, should we not doubt doubt itself? Should we not try to go beyond this last step of Cartesian doubt and look for a new faith? The twentieth century has seen many attempts to defeat Cartesian doubt, however, this doubt of doubt has instead generated a complete loss of faith, which the West experiences as existential nihilism. Hence, the emergent emptying of values that results from such extreme doubt. Everything loses its meaning. Can this climate be overcome? Will the West survive the modern age?
[...After the Media]: News from the Slow-Fading Twentieth Century
by Siegfried Zielinski Gloria CustanceThe media are now redundant. In an overview of developments spanning the past seventy years, Siegfried Zielinski's [ . . . After the Media] discusses how the means of technology-based communication assumed a systemic character and how theory, art, and criticism were operative in this process. Media-explicit thinking is contrasted with media-implicit thought. Points of contact with an arts perspective include a reinterpretation of the artist Nam June Paik and an introduction to the work of Jake and Dinos Chapman. The essay ends with two appeals. In an outline of a precise philology of exact things, Zielinski suggests possibilities of how things could proceed after the media. With a vade mecum against psychopathia medialis in the form of a manifesto, the book advocates for a distinction to be made between online existence and offline being.
Global Water Ethics: Towards a global ethics charter (Earthscan Studies in Water Resource Management)
by Rafael Ziegler David GroenfeldtScholarly interest in water ethics is increasing, motivated by the urgency of climate change, water scarcity, privatization and conflicts over water resources. Water ethics can provide both conceptual perspectives and practical methodologies for identifying outcomes which are environmentally sustainable and socially just. This book assesses the implications of ongoing research in framing a new discipline of water ethics in practice. Contributions consider the difficult ethical and epistemological questions of water ethics in a global context, as well as offering local, empirical perspectives. Case study chapters focus on a range of countries including Canada, China, Germany, India, South Africa and the USA. The respective insights are brought together in the final section concerning the practical project of a universal water ethics charter, alongside theoretical questions about the legitimacy of a global water ethics. Overall the book provides a stimulating examination of water ethics in theory and practice, relevant to academics and professionals in the fields of water resource management and governance, environmental ethics, geography, law and political science.
Figurierte Zahlen: Veranschaulichung als heuristische Strategie
by Jochen ZiegenbalgDieses Buch behandelt die Visualisierung als Methode des mathematischen Problemlösens, Begründens und Beweisens: Konkrete Beispiele zur Veranschaulichung durch mathematische Figuren und Bilder bieten einen faszinierenden Einblick in das Argumentieren anhand strukturierter und strukturierender Figuren zur Betrachtung von Zahlen und Zahlenfolgen. Die historischen Wurzeln dieses mathematischen Handwerkszeugs werden dabei so weit wie möglich einbezogen. Die Beispiele sind in der Regel konstruktiver Natur; gelegentlich wird, wo angebracht, die algorithmische Erschließung durch Hinweise auf die Programmierung mit Hilfe von Computeralgebra Systemen ergänzt. Das Buch richtet sich an Studierende und Lehrende an Schulen und Hochschulen, sowie an alle an der Elementarmathematik interessierten Nichtspezialisten, die das mathematische Arbeiten einmal außerhalb der von den Bildungsinstitutionen vorgezeichneten Pfade kennenlernen wollen. Es liefert insbesondere Lehrkräften und Lehramtsstudierenden wertvolle Anregungen, etwa zur Förderung mathematisch interessierter Schülerinnen und Schüler. In der 2. Auflage ist mit den mathematisch fundamentalen und historisch bedeutsamen Themen Wechselwegnahme, Teilbarkeit, Euklidischer Algorithmus, Inkommensurabilität und Kettenbrüche ein neues, für Visualisierungen gut geeignetes Kapitel hinzugekommen. Bereits bestehende Kapitel wurde durch Abschnitte über Trapezzahlen, ungerade Quadratzahlen und zentrierte Polygonalzahlen ergänzt.
Energie aus Biomasse - ein ethisches Diskussionsmodell
by Michael Zichy Christian Dürnberger Beate Formowitz Anne UhlEnergie aus Biomasse wird auf politischer, wissenschaftlicher und gesellschaftlicher Ebene höchst kontrovers diskutiert. – Dieses Buch liefert eine fundierte, klare und gut verständliche Analyse und Diskussion der ethischen und kulturell-emotionalen Aspekte von Energie aus Biomasse. Es diskutiert die Frage der Verantwortung und bringt naturwissenschaftliche und ethische Expertise in einen fruchtbaren Dialog. Vergleichende Fallstudien und Szenarien sorgen für die praktische Anbindung an die derzeitige landwirtschaftliche Praxis. Die zweite, überarbeitete Auflage bezieht sich auf die aktuellen gesetzlichen Rahmenbedingungen und berücksichtig die neuesten wissenschaftlichen Beiträge zum Diskurs, wie zum Beispiel zu indirekten Landnutzungsänderungen.
Handbuch Menschenbilder
by Michael ZichyMenschenbilder sind Ausdruck menschlicher Selbstverständnisse und wichtige Größen. Denn sie beeinflussen unsere Wahrnehmung, sie prägen unser Denken, Fühlen und Handeln, sie liegen unseren sozialen Ordnungen – der Moral, der Pädagogik, dem Recht, dem politischen System usw. – zugrunde, und sie sind konstitutiv für die Art und Weise, wie wir Menschen sind. Identifikation, Beschreibung, Analyse und insbesondere Kritik von Menschenbildern sind daher ein wissenschaftliches und gesellschaftliches Desiderat.Vor diesem Hintergrund verfolgt dieses erste Handbuch zum Thema Menschenbild zwei Ziele: Es will die Menschenbildforschung in ihr Recht setzten und sie voranbringen. Es bietet einen umfassenden Einblick in die Vielgestaltigkeit, in Funktionen und Auswirkungen sowie in die Produktion von Menschenbildern in unterschiedlichen Bereichen von Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft. Es ist durch einen interdisziplinären Zugang charakterisiert, der eine Vielzahl human-, geistes-, kultur- und sozialwissenschaftlicher Perspektiven bündelt. Aktuelle, fundierte und von ausgewiesenen Fachleuten verfasste Beiträge geben einen Überblick über Themenfelder und Debatten der Menschenbildforschung und arbeiten ihre Aktualität heraus. Das Handbuch versammelt dabei nicht nur Beiträge, die den Stand der Forschung konzise zusammenfassen, sondern auch solche, die für ihre Bereiche erstmalig das Thema Menschenbild aufgreifen und untersuchen.
Resistance, Liberation Technology and Human Rights in the Digital Age
by Giovanni ZiccardiThis book explains strategies, techniques, legal issues and the relationships between digital resistance activities, information warfare actions, liberation technology and human rights. It studies the concept of authority in the digital era and focuses in particular on the actions of so-called digital dissidents. Moving from the difference between hacking and computer crimes, the book explains concepts of hacktivism, the information war between states, a new form of politics (such as open data movements, radical transparency, crowd sourcing and "Twitter Revolutions"), and the hacking of political systems and of state technologies. The book focuses on the protection of human rights in countries with oppressive regimes.
Territories in Resistance
by Raul Zibechi Ramor Ryan"Rich and complicated . . . [Territories in Resistance] will be a key reference point in the development of anti-systemic thought."--Gilberto López y Rivas, La Jornada Territories in Resistance is an indispensable complement to existing literature on Latin American autonomous social movements. Explore the "other worlds" being created in the wreckage of colonialism and capitalism. From Mexico, Ecuador, and Colombia to Argentina and Brazil, no living author digs as deep and presents theoretical challenges quite like Raúl Zibechi. Raúl Zibechi is an international analyst for Brecha, a weekly journal in Montevideo, Uruguay, and the author of Dispersing Power: Social Movements as Anti-State Forces (AK Press, 2010).
Language after Heidegger (Studies in Continental Thought)
by Krzysztof ZiarekWorking from newly available texts in Heidegger's Complete Works, Krzysztof Ziarek presents Heidegger at his most radical and demonstrates how the thinker's daring use of language is an integral part of his philosophical expression. Ziarek emphasizes the liberating potential of language as an event that discloses being and amplifies Heidegger's call for a transformative approach to poetry, power, and ultimately, philosophy.
Feminist Aesthetics and the Politics of Modernism (Columbia Themes in Philosophy, Social Criticism, and the Arts)
by Ewa Płonowska ZiarekEwa Ziarek fully articulates a feminist aesthetics, focusing on the struggle for freedom in women's literary and political modernism and the devastating impact of racist violence and sexism. She examines the contradiction between women's transformative literary and political practices and the oppressive realities of racist violence and sexism, and she situates these tensions within the entrenched opposition between revolt and melancholia in studies of modernity and within the friction between material injuries and experimental aesthetic forms. Ziarek's political and aesthetic investigations concern the exclusion and destruction of women in politics and literary production and the transformation of this oppression into the inaugural possibilities of writing and action. Her study is one of the first to combine an in-depth engagement with philosophical aesthetics, especially the work of Theodor W. Adorno, with women's literary modernism, particularly the writing of Virginia Woolf and Nella Larsen, along with feminist theories on the politics of race and gender. By bringing seemingly apolitical, gender-neutral debates about modernism's experimental forms together with an analysis of violence and destroyed materialities, Ziarek challenges both the anti-aesthetic subordination of modern literature to its political uses and the appreciation of art's emancipatory potential at the expense of feminist and anti-racist political struggles.
Feminist Aesthetics and the Politics of Modernism
by Ewa ZiarekEwa Ziarek fully articulates a feminist aesthetics, focusing on the struggle for freedom in women's literary and political modernism and the devastating impact of racist violence and sexism.
Chuang Tzŭ: Taoist Philosopher and Chinese Mystic
by Zhuang Zi Herbert A. GilesChuang Tzŭ belongs to a period three or four centuries before Christ. A disciple of Lao Tzŭ, his writings, which as a consequence are mostly allegorical, are an attempt to refute the materialistic Confucian teaching that arose after Lao Tzŭ's death. Although Chuang Tzŭ failed in his aims, he left a work of marvellous literary beauty and great originality. This classic translation makes Chuang Tzŭ available to English readers with the aid of a running commentary incorporated in the body of the text.
The Book of Master Mo
by Mo ZiA key work of ancient Chinese philosophy is brought back to life in Ian Johnston's compelling and definitive translation, new to Penguin Classics. Very little is known about Master Mo, or the school he founded. However, the book containing his philosphical ideas has survived centuries of neglect and is today recognised as a fundamental work of ancient Chinese philosophy. The book contains sections explaining the ten key doctrines of Mohism; lively dialogues between Master Mo and his followers; discussion of ancient warfare; and an extraordinary series of chapters that include the first examples of logic, dialectics and epistemology in Chinese philosophy. The ideas discussed in The Book of Master Mo - ethics, anti-imperalism, and a political hierarchy based on merit - remain as relevant as ever, and the work is vital to understanding ancient Chinese philosophy.Translator Ian Johnston has an MA in Latin, a PhD in Greek and a PhD in Chinese, and was Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at Sydney University until his retirement. He has published translations of Galen's medical writings, early Chinese poetry (Singing of Scented Grass and Waiting for the Owl), and early Chinese philosophical works (the Mozi and - with Wang Ping - the Daxue and Zhongyong). In 2011 he was awarded the NSW Premier's Prize and the PEN medallion for translation.Unlike previous translations, this version includes the complete text. It also includes an introduction and explanatory end notes. 'A landmark endeavour' Asia Times'A magnificent and valuable achievement' Journal of Chinese Studies'Eminently readable and at the same time remarkably accurate...Johnston's work will be the standard for a long time' China Review International'Compelling and engaging reading...while at the same time preserving the diction and rhetorical style of the original Chinese' New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies
Zhuangzi: With Selections from Traditional Commentaries
by Zhuangzi Brook ZiporynIdeal for students and scholars alike, this edition of Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu) includes the complete Inner Chapters, extensive selections from the Outer and Miscellaneous Chapters, and judicious selections from two thousand years of traditional Chinese commentaries, which provide the reader access to the text as well as to its reception and interpretation. A glossary, brief biographies of the commentators, a bibliography, and an index are also included.
Zhuangzi: Basic Writings (Translations from the Asian Classics)
by ZhuangziOnly by inhabiting Dao (the Way of Nature) and dwelling in its unity can humankind achieve true happiness and freedom, in both life and death. This is Daoist philosophy's central tenet, espoused by the person—or group of people—known as Zhuangzi (369?–286? BCE) in a text by the same name. To be free, individuals must discard rigid distinctions between right and wrong, and follow a course of action not motivated by gain or striving. When one ceases to judge events as good or bad, man-made suffering disappears, and natural suffering is embraced as part of life.Zhuangzi elucidates this mystical philosophy through humor, parable, and anecdote, using non sequitur and even nonsense to illuminate truths beyond the boundaries of ordinary logic. Boldly imaginative and inventively written, the Zhuangzi floats free of its historical period and society, addressing the spiritual nourishment of all people across time. One of the most justly celebrated texts of the Chinese tradition, the Zhuangzi is read by thousands of English-language scholars each year, yet, until now, only in the Wade-Giles romanization. Burton Watson's conversion to pinyin in this book brings the text in line with how Chinese scholars, and an increasing number of other scholars, read it.
Zhuangzi: The Complete Writings
by ZhuangziBrook Ziporyn's carefully crafted, richly annotated translation of the complete writings of Zhuangzi—including a lucid Introduction, a Glossary of Essential Terms, and a Bibliography—provides readers with an engaging and provocative deep dive into this magical work.
Chinese Aesthetics in a Global Context
by Zhirong ZhuThis book examines aesthetic issues based on humanities principles and creates a theory of Chinese aesthetics from a global perspective by applying China’s traditional and cultural history to a Western theoretical framework. In particular, this book emphasizes the shared features of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, namely the unity of heaven and men, unity of nature and society, and the materialization of human feelings and humanization of material things. It also highlights the dominant role of humans in the aesthetic relationship between human and object, while placing imagery in a focal position.
Returning to Scientific Practice: A New Reflection on Philosophy of Science (China Perspectives)
by Xu Zhu Wu TongThis book is a result from a collective study on philosophy of scientific practice (PSP), which began around 2002 and still ongoing. There is an apparently increasing interest in scientific practice, influenced by the historicistic philosophy of science and the sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK). Prof. WU Tong and his research group believe that it is necessary for PSP to turn from the theory-dominant position to the practice dominance. PSP has also put forward the possibility of reinterpreting the epistemic status of local knowledge in Chinese tradition, which provides the most significant motivation to participate this study. In this book, we have selected three main cases – namely, Chinese medicine, Fengshui, and Ethnobotany – to examine the effect of PSP. The aim of our collective study is not merely on theoretical construction of PSP, but also to consider the various applications of PSP, especially for re-interpreting and demonstrating the variety of local knowledge from traditional China, which seems to be a genuine contribution to the international enterprise of philosophy of science, particularly made by Chinese scholars.
The Original Meaning of the Yijing: Commentary on the Scripture of Change (Translations from the Asian Classics)
by Xi ZhuThe Yijing (I Ching), or Scripture of Change, is traditionally considered the first and most profound of the Chinese classics. Originally a divination manual based on trigrams and hexagrams, by the beginning of the first millennium it had acquired written explanations and a series of appendices attributed to Confucius, which transformed it into a work of wisdom literature as well as divination. Over the centuries, hundreds of commentaries were written on it, but for the past thousand years, one of the most influential has been that of Zhu Xi (1130–1200), who synthesized the major interpretive approaches to the text and integrated it into his system of moral self-cultivation.Joseph A. Adler’s translation of the Yijing includes for the first time in English Zhu Xi’s commentary in full. Adler explores Zhu Xi’s interpretation of the text and situates it in the context of his overall theoretical system. Zhu Xi held that the Yijing was originally composed for the purpose of divination by the mythic sage Fuxi, who intended to create a system to aid decision making. The text’s meaning, therefore, could not be captured by a single commentator; it would emerge for each person through the process of divination. This translation makes available to the English-language audience a crucial text in the history of Chinese religion and philosophy, with an introduction and translator’s notes that explain its intellectual and historical context.
Zhu Xi: Basic Teachings
by Xi ZhuZhu Xi (1130–1200) was the preeminent Confucian thinker of the Song dynasty (960–1279). His teachings profoundly influenced China, where for centuries after his death they formed the basis of the country’s educational system. In Korea, Japan, and Vietnam as well, elites embraced his inspired and authoritative synthesis of Confucian thought.In Zhu’s eyes, the great Way of China was in decline, with its very survival threatened by external enemies and internal moral weakness. In his writings and teaching, Zhu took as his mission the revival of the Confucian tradition, the source of China’s greatness, and its transmission to future generations. For him, restoring Confucianism to its rightful place required drawing on the tradition’s whole sweep, from the sacred texts of the sages and worthies of antiquity to the more recent writings of the great thinkers of the tenth and eleventh centuries.This book presents the essential teachings of the new Confucian (“Neo-Confucian”) philosophical system that Zhu Xi forged, providing a concise introduction to one of the most important figures in the history of Chinese thought. It offers selections from the Classified Conversations of Master Zhu (Zhuzi yulei), a lengthy collection of Zhu’s conversations with disciples. In these texts, Zhu Xi reflects on the Confucian teachings of the past, revising and refining his understanding of them and shaping that understanding into a cohesive system of thought. Daniel K. Gardner’s translation renders these discussions and sayings in a conversational style that is accessible to new and more advanced readers alike.
Stalinism, Maoism, and Socialism in Higher Education (Global Histories of Education)
by Lee S. ZhuThis book is a comparative study of the endeavors to create a socialist system of higher education in the Soviet Union under Stalin and in China under Mao. It is organized around three themes: the convergence of Maoism with Stalinism in the early 1950s, which induced the transnational transplantation of the Soviet model of higher education to China; historical convergence between Stalinism of the First Five-Year Plan period (1928–1932) and Maoism of the Great Leap period (1958–1960), which was prominently manifested in Soviet and Chinese higher education policies in these respective periods; the eventual divergence of Maoism from Stalinism on the definition of socialist society, which was evinced in the different final outcomes of the Maoist and Stalinist endeavors to create a socialist system of higher learning.
Methodology of Highway Engineering Structural Design and Construction (Advanced Topics in Science and Technology in China #59)
by Hanhua Zhu Lei ShiThis book mainly studies the methodologies of structural design and construction for highway engineering, which are applicable to the overall control and the precise operation of engineering structures. It explores the method of comprehensive analysis, the simplification of complex problems, and the application of typical engineering tools. In turn, the book presents a number of innovative approaches, e.g. the coordinated control of structural deformation method, the theory of underground engineering balance and stability, and the soft soil foundation treatment of “bumping at the bridgehead.” These methodologies are then illustrated in typical cases and representative problems, explained from a practical standpoint. Examples in special settings are also discussed, e.g. highway construction in Tibet, and rebuilding after the Wenchuan earthquake. The book offers a valuable reference guide for all those whose work involves highway engineering design, construction, management, and scientific research.
Chinese Semiotic Thoughts in the Pre-imperial Age (China Academic Library)
by Dong ZhuThis book examines practices on the relationship between sign and meaning in the Pre-Imperial period of China from the semiotics perspective. Although the Chinese civilization did not develop a comprehensive semiotics system in that period, they are highly semiotic in many ways. The thinking and application of signs of Chinese people can be found in many classics, such as The Book of Changes, The Analects of Confucius, Tao De Jing and Zhuangzi. This book begins its study by re-examining the semiotic thoughts contained in The Book of Changes and inquiries into the thoughts of the major philosophers of different schools. It provides insights into the findings of these philosophers concerning the relationship between sign and meaning. In particular, it concentrates on how the prosperity of the various contending semiotic thoughts complemented each other in forming a sign system. In addition, the book also emphasizes the wholeness and associativity of observing things and studying relevant signs of Chinese people. As the first monograph in any language to systematically summarize Chinese semiotic thought in the Pre-Imperial period, this book helps promote understanding of the traditional Chinese culture and mindset.
A Panoramic History of Traditional Chinese Ethics
by Yi-ting ZHU (朱贻庭)This book traces the trajectory of traditional Chinese ethics from West Zhou Dynasty (1046－771 BC) through Qing Dynasty (1616—1912) and covers a myriad of Chinese philosophers who have expressed their ideas about the relationships between Heavenly Dao vs. Earthly Dao, Good vs. Evil, Morality vs. Legality, Knowledge vs. Behavior, Motive vs. Result, Righteousness vs. Profitability, Rationality vs. Animality. In this book, the readers can find Confucius’s discussion on Rite and Benevolence, Lao Zi’s meditation on Inaction of Great Dao, Zhuang Zi’s elaboration on “Transcendental Freedom”, Mohist utilitarian “Universal Love”, and Mencian theory of “Primordial Good Humanity”, to name just a few phenomenal figures. A compact yet elaborate, panoramic yet profound guidebook to traditional Chinese ethical thought, this book is an excellent window to showcase traditional Chinese mental and spiritual legacy. Composed, translated, and proofread by brilliant scholars, it produces a fluent and coherent English discourse of Chinese morality and ethics, nimbly spinning together the threads of Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and other ideological schools with brief references to the historical situation. Consequently, it provides English readers, especially those curious about Chinese psychology and rationality, with thought-provoking and horizon-expanding perspectives, and provides Chinese readers, especially those of philosophy and translation, with a great number of typical and characteristic quotes of archaic Chinese that have never been translated before. Ultimately, it is a fundamental threshold to learning about Chinese people, Chinese culture, Chinese morality, Chinese mentality, Chinese policy, and Chinese diplomacy.