The New Flesh. A Marcusean Dialectic of Eros and Technology in the Digital Age
Keywords:
Marcuse, Eros, Technology, Technics, InternetAbstract
In this article, we offer a critical theory of the internet grounded in Marcuse’s dialectical theory of technology, starting from what we contend to be the fundamental and indispensable core of his thinking: the dialectic between eros and technological rationality. We proceed below in three parts: First, we critically reconstruct Marcuse’s dialectic of eros and technological rationality to set the stage for our discussion of the internet. Second, we use Marcuse’s distinction between technology and technics to interrogate the internet as a material reflection of the social process out of which it emerged. Under conditions of advanced industrial civilization, it is not surprising that the internet appears as a material reflection of technological rationality. In the final section, we seek to answer the questions raised by the preceding sections: If the internet frustrates our need for erotic connection, rendering desire one-dimensional, would an erotic technology of liberation include the internet? If so, would that internet look anything like what it does now?
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