Read more
Drawing on Foucault-inflected philosophy of technical mediation, Futures of the Human Subject analyzes several recent science fiction novels, examining their representations of the relation between people and specific technologies and of the way in which this relation affects human subjectivity.
List of contents
Introduction
Chapter 1. Technical Mediation, Subjectivity and Science Fiction
Early philosophy of technology and utopia/dystopia syndrome Empirical turn Posthuman perspectivePhilosophy of technical mediation-key concepts Technical mediation and Foucault Modes of human-technology interactionEthics of technologyScience fiction Chapter 2.
The Circle: Embracing Social Media and Personal Transparency
Utopian vision of ICTs as subjectifying discourse Self-conception, social self and the internet as archive Subjectifying power of the algorithm Pressure for social media activity Gamification and the quantified self Surveillance and personal transparency Chapter 3.
Rainbows End: New Vistas through Displays in Contacts
New life after Alzheimer's Materiality of discourse Wearing: the physical mode Cognitive enhancement Personal interaction and multitasking Belief circles and play Cognitive labour and control Chapter 4.
Maddadam trilogy: Alleviating Existential Fears
Life in the Compounds Ethical subjectification of God's Gardeners Makover culture Producing patients Becoming Crake Conclusion
Works Cited
About the author
S¿awomir Koziö is an assistant professor at the University of Rzeszów, Poland. His academic interests include science fiction, posthumanism, theories of the human subject, philosophy of technical mediation, social space and new-media art. He has published articles in
Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction,
Extrapolation,
Miscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies,
Papers on Language and Literature and
Science Fiction Studies, among others.
Summary
Drawing on Foucault-inflected philosophy of technical mediation, Futures of the Human Subject analyzes several recent science fiction novels, examining their representations of the relation between people and specific technologies and of the way in which this relation affects human subjectivity.
