The technologies of isolation: apocalypse and self in Kurosawa Kiyoshi's Kairo

In this investigation of the Japanese film Kairo, I contemplate how the horrors present in the film relate to the issue of self, by examining a number of interlocking motifs. These include thematic foci on disease and technology which are more intimately and inwardly focused that the film's conclusion first appears to suggest. The true horror here, I argue, is ontological: centred on the self and its divorcing from the exterior world, especially founded in an increased use of and reliance on communicative technologies. I contend that these concerns are manifested in Kairo by presenting the spread of technology as disease-like, infecting the city and the individuals who are isolated and imprisoned by their urban environment. Finally, I investigate the meanings of the apocalypse, expounding how it may be read as hopeful for the future rather than indicative of failure or doom

Six propositions on the sonics of pornography

Pornography (and all its contentious pleasures, contested politics and attendant problematics) is enjoying a fresh wave of academic attention. The overwhelming majority of these studies, however, focus on the visual discourses of sexually explicit material. This risks the sonic dimensions of pornography being overlooked entirely. Yet porn is anything but silent. This speculative article maps out some of the ways in which the sounds of pornography (and the pornography of sound) might be approached in the analytical context of gay male culture. Not only do the texts of porn contain assorted sounds (dialogue, soundtracks, non-verbal noises of participation, background and accidental audio), they also seek to prompt sounds (not least the non-verbal noises pornography seeks to elicit during the moments of its consumption) and sometimes depend on sound alone (telephone lines that allow access to recorded narratives or ‘live’ chat). Pornography speaks in particular accents, it mobilizes particular music, it dances to particular tunes and it relies on the pants we hear as much as the pants we see. If queer cultures have their own distinctive worlds of sound, then the sonic armouries of porn play a prominent role within them

Merleau-Ponty and the Measuring Body

In recent years a growing number of scholars in science studies and related fields are developing new ontologies to displace entrenched dualisms. These efforts often go together with a renewed interest in the roles played by symbolisms and tools in knowledge and being. This article brings Maurice Merleau-Ponty into these conversations, positioning him as a precursor of today’s innovative recastings of technoscience. While Merleau-Ponty is often invoked in relation to his early work on the body and embodiment, this article focuses on his later work, where the investigation of perception is integrated with an ontological exploration. The resulting approach revolves around the highly original idea of the body as a standard of measurement. We further develop this idea by coining the term ‘the measuring body’, which to a greater extent than did Merleau-Ponty accentuates the relative autonomy of symbolisms and tools and their capacity to decentre the perceiving body

Molecular medicine and concepts of disease: the ethical value of a conceptual analysis of emerging biomedical technologies

Although it is now generally acknowledged that new biomedical technologies often produce new definitions and sometimes even new concepts of disease, this observation is rarely used in research that anticipates potential ethical issues in emerging technologies. This article argues that it is useful to start with an analysis of implied concepts of disease when anticipating ethical issues of biomedical technologies. It shows, moreover, that it is possible to do so at an early stage, i.e. when a technology is only just emerging. The specific case analysed here is that of ‘molecular medicine’. This group of emerging technologies combines a ‘cascade model’ of disease processes with a ‘personal pattern’ model of bodily functioning. Whereas the ethical implications of the first are partly familiar from earlier—albeit controversial—forms of preventive and predictive medicine, those of the second are quite novel and potentially far-reaching

La incorporación de lo material: fenomenología y filosofía de la tecnología

This paper reviews some aspects of the interrelation between phenomenology and philosophy of technology. With that aim, it approaches Husserl's statements with reference to the lifeworld and the material culture, as well as the Heideggerian notions, first author in incorporating phenomenology to the analysis of technology and, thus, first philosopher in developing a philosophy of technology'. Subsequently, the text reviews some approaches to this thematic made by contemporary authors. Finally, it proposes an application of the Heideggerian notions to the analysis of two forms of the present technology: the astronomical observation and the musical performance assisted by electronic meansEste artículo reseña algunos aspectos de la interrelación entre la fenomenología y la filosofía de la tecnología. Para ello se recorren algunas de Ias afirmaciones de Husserl en referencia al mundo de la vida y la cultura material, y se tratan Ias nociones elaboradas por Heidegger, primer autor en incorporar la fenomenología al análisis de la tecnología y, así, primer filósofo en desarrollar una `filosofía de la tecnología'. Posteriormente, el texto recorre algunos abordajes de este tema realizados por autores contemporáneos. Para finalizar, se propone una aplicación de las nociones heideggerianas al análisis de dos manifestaciones de la tecnología actual: la observación astronómica y la ejecución musical con medios electrónicos

La incorporación de lo material: fenomenología y filosofía de la tecnología

This paper reviews some aspects of the interrelation between phenomenology and philosophy of technology. With that aim, it approaches Husserl's statements with reference to the lifeworld and the material culture, as well as the Heideggerian notions, first author in incorporating phenomenology to the analysis of technology and, thus, first philosopher in developing a philosophy of technology'. Subsequently, the text reviews some approaches to this thematic made by contemporary authors. Finally, it proposes an application of the Heideggerian notions to the analysis of two forms of the present technology: the astronomical observation and the musical performance assisted by electronic meansEste artículo reseña algunos aspectos de la interrelación entre la fenomenología y la filosofía de la tecnología. Para ello se recorren algunas de Ias afirmaciones de Husserl en referencia al mundo de la vida y la cultura material, y se tratan Ias nociones elaboradas por Heidegger, primer autor en incorporar la fenomenología al análisis de la tecnología y, así, primer filósofo en desarrollar una `filosofía de la tecnología'. Posteriormente, el texto recorre algunos abordajes de este tema realizados por autores contemporáneos. Para finalizar, se propone una aplicación de las nociones heideggerianas al análisis de dos manifestaciones de la tecnología actual: la observación astronómica y la ejecución musical con medios electrónicos