Medium, Messenger, Transmission

This rich study provides a comprehensive introduction to media philosophy while offering a new perspective on the concept and function of transmission media in all systems of exchange. Krämer uses the figure of the messenger as a key metaphor, examining a diverse range of transmission events, including the circulation of money, translation of languages, angelic visitations, spread of infectious diseases, and processes of transference and counter-transference that occur during psychoanalysis. "'An interesting read, with an incorporated overview of media theory." - Ana Peraica, Leonardo Review

From self-development to human solidarity: a critical study on the dialogical theology of "inter-" cultures

This dissertation questions the politics of contemporary cultural development known as "multiculturalism" and "particularism" which permeate the realm of theology, particularly in relation with non-Western theologies. It begins by examining the mechanism of representing "different others" within the modern subjectivity and its universal validity claim, in order to reveal the modernist's essentialism and reductionistic, totalising tendency. By arguing that reality is non-formalistic, ambiguous and contingent, and decentring of the subject, the study articulates the social source of rationality that exists in "in-between" people (subjects) against the philosophical metanarrative. From this standpoint, the focus shifts from the subject's ontological/epistemological emphasis to a dialogical event or relation with the other.Therefore, this study explores human desire on the relation of "I and the Other," with particular attention paid to Emmanuel Levinas' idea on the 'ethical responsibility for the Other' as the first philosophy. This argues that Levinas disrupts the philosophy of ontology by inserting a God who is infinite into the finite, and suggests a new modality (meontological) of ethical responsibility for the Other/other. It argues that Levinas' idea is concretised in Mikhail Bakhtin's dialogism that perceives human consciousness not as a unified whole but one that always exists in a tensile, conflict-ridden relationship with other consciousness. It also argues that dialogism is not simply a textual or even an inter-textual phenomenon, but reaches beyond the text to the social world as a whole. It suggests that ethics exists in an open and ongoing obligation to respond and answer to the other, rather than as a consensus or philosophical end or rule. Ethics, as a reminder of the surplus in human dialogue, argues for the structural necessity of otherness in my solidarity with the otherThis thesis, then, explores the event of kenotic Christ as a fertile prototype for the leitmotif of 'the Word made flesh,' and the I/Other dichotomy, and as the consciousness of human development and dialogical orientation. It stresses a theological and religious affinity of creating an ethical space to experience the meaning of the future that interrogates the temporal reality and 'givenness,' a space which brings people into "radical communality and human solidarity" of the great time, the eschatological plenitude. From this perspective, I suggest theology as a critical engaging discourse and a cultural criticism within the public sphere, in creating a new world of human relation

Physics and Literature

Physics and Literature is a unique collaboration between physicists and literary scholars, the first book to explore together the relations between both fields in depth. Contributors analyze central aspects of literary and scientific thought and representation, and the forms of exchange between them. They clarify how narrative, fiction, metaphor and language interact with models, experiment, measurement and mathematics, across eras and genres

Physics and Literature

Physics and Literature is a unique collaboration between physicists and literary scholars, the first book to explore together the relations between both fields in depth. Contributors analyze central aspects of literary and scientific thought and representation, and the forms of exchange between them. They clarify how narrative, fiction, metaphor and language interact with models, experiment, measurement and mathematics, across eras and genres

An Occidentalist Fantasy: Turkish Radio and National Identity

This thesis analyses broadcasting as an area that conveys the complex dynamics of boundary management in the constitution of Turkish national identity. The research dwells on the conceptions, sites of transmission, strategies and programmes of Turkish Radio from its inauguration in 1927 until the end of the 1940s, and the field of force lines it was positioned in, particularly in relation to the BBC Turkish Section during the same period. The main hypothesis in the thesis is that the historical divide between “the West” and “the East” over-determined the way tensions in Turkish radio broadcasting – between “the elite” and “the people”, and between men and women – were conceived and handled. Every attempt to define, build and demarcate Turkish national identity was shaped with reference to an imagined Western-ness and for the Western gaze, which is called Occidentalis in this thesis. Turkish Radio was regarded as the “voice of the nation” and was imagined to be heard simultaneously by Others, the West and the people. However, the thesis also attends to the reality of the Occidentalist fantasy. Through a comparative analysis of the BBC Turkish Section Radio and Turkish Radio, the thesis shows how fantasies of the Other in both cases were shaped in relation to each other, in a dialogic relationship. Radio technology with its processes of embodiment and disembodiment, and “mass address” provide the means to produce and sustain and Occidentalist fantasy that both denied and re-defined divisions in the national realm in a dialogic link with the West. Thus, the thesis raises a range of theoretical and practical questions concerning the discursive, technical and psychoanalytical aspects of national identity and “communication” through radio broadcasting

Problem space of modern society: philosophical-communicative and pedagogical interpretations. Part I

This collective monograph offers the description of philosophical bases of definition of communicative competence and pedagogical conditions for the formation of communication skills. The authors of individual chapters have chosen such point of view for the topic which they considered as the most important and specific for their field of study using the methods of logical and semantic analysis of concepts, the method of reflection, textual reconstruction and comparative analysis. The theoretical and applied problems of modern society are investigated in the context of philosophical, communicative and pedagogical interpretations

Proceedings of the 21st International Congress of Aesthetics, Possible Worlds of Contemporary Aesthetics Aesthetics Between History, Geography and Media

The Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade and the Society for Aesthetics of Architecture and Visual Arts of Serbia (DEAVUS) are proud to be able to organize the 21st ICA Congress on “Possible Worlds of Contemporary Aesthetics: Aesthetics Between History, Geography and Media”. We are proud to announce that we received over 500 submissions from 56 countries, which makes this Congress the greatest gathering of aestheticians in this region in the last 40 years. The ICA 2019 Belgrade aims to map out contemporary aesthetics practices in a vivid dialogue of aestheticians, philosophers, art theorists, architecture theorists, culture theorists, media theorists, artists, media entrepreneurs, architects, cultural activists and researchers in the fields of humanities and social sciences. More precisely, the goal is to map the possible worlds of contemporary aesthetics in Europe, Asia, North and South America, Africa and Australia. The idea is to show, interpret and map the unity and diverseness in aesthetic thought, expression, research, and philosophies on our shared planet. Our goal is to promote a dialogue concerning aesthetics in those parts of the world that have not been involved with the work of the International Association for Aesthetics to this day. Global dialogue, understanding and cooperation are what we aim to achieve. That said, the 21st ICA is the first Congress to highlight the aesthetic issues of marginalised regions that have not been fully involved in the work of the IAA. This will be accomplished, among others, via thematic round tables discussing contemporary aesthetics in East Africa and South America. Today, aesthetics is recognized as an important philosophical, theoretical and even scientific discipline that aims at interpreting the complexity of phenomena in our contemporary world. People rather talk about possible worlds or possible aesthetic regimes rather than a unique and consistent philosophical, scientific or theoretical discipline