Genaral Organology

The Co-individuation of Minds, Bodies, Social Organisations and Technè

20-21-22 November 2014, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.

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Marking the 20th anniversary of the publication of Bernard Stiegler’s landmark book, La Technique et le temps 1, which first outlined the project of a general organology, this conference aims to survey the range of twentieth-century and contemporary philosophical accounts, scientific theories and technical innovations that intersect an organological dimension. Within this overarching theme, the goal of the conference is to weave together different perspectives and disciplines from neurosciences to ecology, from the digital humanities to psychology, in order to identify and address contemporary issues that twenty-first century philosophies have to consider. The objective is to enrich the philosophical understanding of the interrelations between natural, technological, psychological and social individuations in order to better read our present time and make appropriate plans for the future. With this in mind we underline the philosophical priority of the question of knowledge, without confining it within merely cognitive bounds.

Over the last decade, we have witnessed spectacular progress in two fields of knowledge, namely digital technology and the neurosciences. These two fields of theoretical and practical knowledge are revolutionising all domains of human life, from economy to health care, from art to politics. Contemporary philosophies are urged to respond to these transformations. Not only are the effects of these phenomena fully transdisciplinary. In as much as digital technologies and brain sciences aspire to transform the human dimension of knowledge, the question of how to transcend neurocentrism and technological determinism remains. Both digital technology and neuroscience are reconfiguring a spectrum of issues with which philosophy has always been concerned, but which it now risks failing to address in their renewed form. These include the notions of desire, memory, imagination, the collective, and the role of writing, grammatisation and language itself.

Keynote Speakers:

Confirmed Speakers:

  • Jiewon Baeck
  • Riccardo Baldissone
  • Mariana Casanova
  • Patrick Crogan
  • Martin Crowley
  • Yuk Hui
  • Ian James
  • Ilan Kaddouch
  • Ganaele Langlois
  • Pieter Lemmens
  • Michael Lewis
  • Gerald Moore
  • John Mowitt
  • Carlos Natálio
  • Ali Rahebi
  • Ben Roberts
  • Estrella Rojas
  • Dominic Smith
  • Ben Turner

General Organology is organized by Noötechnics collective and is supported by the Faculty of Social Sciences (University of Kent), the Centre for Critical Thought (University of Kent), the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies (University of Leeds) and the Institute of Research and Innovation (Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris).