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Ten years after his death, the reputation of Vil?m Flusser as one of Europe's most original modern philosophers continues to grow. Increasingly influential in Europe and Latin America, the Prague-born intellectual's thought has until now remained largely unknown in the English-speaking world due to a lack of translations. His innovative writings theorize-and ultimately embrace-the epochal shift that humanity is undergoing from what he termed "linear thinking" (based on writing) toward a new form of multidimensional, visual thinking embodied by digital culture. For Flusser, these new modes and technologies of communication make possible a society (the "telematic" society) in which dialogue between people becomes the supreme value. The first English-language anthology of Flusser's work, this volume displays the extraordinary range and subtlety of his intellect. A number of the essays collected here introduce and elaborate upon his theory of communication, influenced by thinkers as diverse as Martin Buber, Edmund Husserl, and Thomas Kuhn. While taking dystopian, posthuman visions of communication technologies into account, Flusser celebrates their liberatory and humanizing aspects. For Flusser, existence was akin to being thrown into an abyss of absurd experience or "bottomlessness"; becoming human required creating meaning out of this painful event by consciously connecting with others, in part through such technologies. Other essays present Flusser's thoughts on the future of writing, the revolutionary nature of photography, the relationship between exile and creativity, and his unconventional concept of posthistory. Taken together, these essays confirm Flusser's importance and prescience within contemporary philosophy. Vil?m Flusser (1920-1991) was born in Prague, emigrated to Brazil, where he taught philosophy and wrote a daily newspaper column in S?o Paulo, and later moved to France. He wrote several books in Portuguese and German; The Shape of Things (1999) and Toward a Philosophy of Photography (2000) have been translated into English. Andreas Str?hl is director of the film department at the Goethe-Institut Inter Nationes in Munich. Erik Eisel, who received his PhD in Comparative Literature from UCLA, currently works for a software technology company in Southern California.
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writings electronic mediations Katherine Hayles Mark Poster Samuel Weber Series Editors 6. Writings Vilém Flusser Andreas Ströhl, Editor 5. Bodies in Technology Don Ihde 4. Cyberculture Pierre Lévy 3. What’s the Matter with the Internet? Mark Poster 2. High Techne ¯: Art and Technology from the Machine Aesthetic to the Posthuman R. L. Rutsky 1. Digital Sensations: Space, Identity, and Embodiment in Virtual Reality Ken Hillis writings V i l é m Andreas Ströhl, Editor e l e c t r o n i c F l u s s e r Translated by Erik Eisel m e d i a t i o n s , University of Minnesota Press v o l u m e 6 Minneapolis / London The publication of this work was subsidized by a grant from inter nationes, Bonn. See pages 219–22 for copyright and previous publication information for specific works. Introduction copyright 2002 by Andreas Ströhl English translation copyright 2002 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Published by the University of Minnesota Press 111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290 Minneapolis, MN 55401-2520 http://www.upress.umn.edu Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Flusser, Vilém, 1920–1991 [Selections. English. 2002] Writings / Vilém Flu