Man as product and producer of vitreous optic: from the mirror phase to the monitor phase, with particular reference to Martin Jay, Bergson, Deleuze and Baudrillard

Abstract

Drawing an arc from Narcissus’ encounter with his own reflection, tracking through varieties and modalities of glassy surfaces and technologies through history, from the mirror to the lens, microscope and telescope, camera obscura and panopticon, to contemporary techno-cultural phenomena of the ‘digital age’ the concern of this work is to determine how mirrors, lenses, screens and monitors have shaped our social and conceptual modes of existence. The four parts of this dissertation all illustrate how glass technology modalities of vitreous optic has contributed to the development of the various spheres of our life, and vice versa. The general hypothesis shows how intertwined we are with our material production beyond the reductive perspectives of technological determinism and social constructivism; and, more specifically, the thesis argues that the vitreous optics of the contemporary age –the computer game, the smartphone, social media platforms and networks- have profound ramifications that are redefining ‘intelligence’, ‘things’, and ‘technology