Beyond Mediation: Thinking About Technology Existentially, Or, The Algorithm That I Also Am

Abstract

The history of philosophy has been characterized by a suspicion of technology. Discourses surrounding technology—from the pre-Socratics to the present—often position technology as an external other and as something that interferes with the Delphic injunction to “Know Thyself.” This dissertation traces the history of this philosophical skepticism (which is herein defined as “Socratic Socratic) before calling it into question. By reading Socrates and Kierkegaard (as well as other figures associated with the existential tradition) against themselves, technologies—and especially contemporary communicative technologies—are theorized as existentially rich sites in which one may authentically pursue self-knowledge and develop their subjectivity. Numerous examples of possibilities for technological maieutics, especially ones that are present in the “algorithmized” online world, are presented. Ultimately, this dissertation seeks to go beyond philosophical discourses of technological mediation, which are argued to often prematurely distance the individual from their technological doings, and instead advocates for a more existentially responsible attitude towards technological being. This existentially responsible attitude considers technologies to be the culminations of one’s actions, and advocates for a responsibility to recognize and pursue the avenues for self-knowledge that are present in our contemporary technological landscape.