Gnther Anders Philosophy of Technology: From Phenomenology to Critical Theory

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Gunther Anders' Philosophy of Technology is the first comprehensive exploration of the ground-breaking work of German thinker Gunther Anders. Anders' philosophy has become increasingly prescient in our digitised, technological age as his work predicts the prevalence of social media, ubiquitous surveillance and the turn to big data. Anders' ouevre also explored the technologies of nuclear power and the biotech concerns for the human and transhuman condition which have become so central to current theory. Babette Babich argues that Anders offers important resources on streaming digital media through his writings on radio, television and film and is, unusually, both a comprehensive and profound thinker. Anders' relationship with key philosophers like Hannah Arendt and Walter Benjamin and his thinking on Goethe, Nietzsche and Rilke is also explored with a focus on the deep impact he made on his peers. It reflects specifically on the intersection of Anders thought Heidegger and the Frankfurt school and how influential a figure he was on the landscape of 20th century philosophy. A compelling rehabilitation of a thinker with profound contemporary relevance.

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A long overdue and timely study that brings out Anders significance for philosophy of technology and media in a way that connects him not only with Heidegger but also with Arendt, Benjamin, Adorno, and Agamben. Babette Babichs erudite (re)mix of histories of ideas and thinkers contributes to a rehabilitation of Anders that shows his significance for phenomenology, critical theory, aesthetics, and indeed thinking about technology and media. The author shows that Anders already criticized the idea that technology is neutral and offers an interpretation of Anderss Promethean shame thesis that stresses our responsibility for what our technologies do to the planet. An authoritative work that opens up the interesting perspective of an Anders-inspired critical theory of technology and shows the continuing relevance of the ghosts and musings of 20th century thinking for todays world of social media and big data. * Mark Coeckelbergh, Professor of Philosophy of Media and Technology, University of Vienna, Austria *
Gnther Anderss philosophy of technology, developed across seven decades, provides uniquely pragmatic resources with which to think the technological present. Babette Babich vividly captures and expansively surveys the potential of Anderss vast body of work, which viscerally exposes the ongoing and accelerating transformation, production, augmentation, and devaluation of the human. * Christopher John Mller, Lecturer in Cultural Studies and Media, Macquaire University, Australia *
[A] wide ranging and provocative new book ... Babichs analytic skills are excellent and she has a deep understanding of the academic rigour needed to reflect on the nature of research on Anders in the discipline of the philosophy of science in contemporary literature. * Avello Publishing Journal *

Author Bio

Babette Babich is Professor of Philosophy at Fordham University, USA. She is author of Nietzsche's Philosophy of Science (1994) The Hallelujah Effect (2016)