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Thinking About Machines in Eight Parts – Syllabus

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In his 1958 dissertation the philosopher of technology Gilbert Simondon diagnosed his European postwar society as alienated, not only from their own shared human relations, as in Marx, but from a relational understanding to machines. There is no doubt that alienation in both senses has intensified. Capital accumulates wealth into the hands of a few while machines miniaturize and become unintelligible to the hands of many. Today there remains an anxiety about the role of machines, especially those garden variety artificial intelligence technologies which proliferate within and beyond the laboratory, the academy, and the workplace. For example, when I tell someone that I study the history of technology I am usually then asked for my opinion on ChatGPT or whether or not I think the singularity is possible. In an attempt to dodge these questions I often get stuck in the aporia of what I think a machine is. How do you say what a machine is? The following syllabus is meant to help its reader

Thinking About Machines in Eight Parts – Syllabus Thinking About Machines in Eight Parts by E. Rae Bruml Norton In his 1958 dissertation the philosopher of technology Gilbert Simondon diagnosed his European postwar society as alienated, not only from their own shared human relations, as in Marx, but from a relational understanding to machines. There is no doubt that alienation in both senses has intensified. Capital accumulates wealth into the hands of a few while machines miniaturize and become unintelligible to the hands of many. Today there remains an anxiety about the role of machine

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