The Technoscientific Turn of Philosophy
The Technoscientific Turn of Philosophy
ID:
2806
UUID:
Date added:
Jul 14, 2026
Last modified:
Sep 22, 2026
File sizes
PDF (1007.8 KiB)
Languages
English
Publisher:
Palgrave Macmillan
Published:
Apr 15, 2026
URL:
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-21081-4
Available at:
Springer
Publication Type:
monograph
Theme:
Cybernetics
AI Summary:
This response summarizes the central philosophical arguments and thematic inquiries presented in Žarko Paić’s *The Technoscientific Turn of Philosophy: The Age of Cybernetics*.
### **The Core of the Technoscientific Turn**
**The central theme of this work is the radical transition from classical metaphysics to a "technoscientific" paradigm, where the technosphere—a system of calculation, planning, and construction—replaces traditional ontological understandings of Being.** Paić argues that we have moved into an age of cybernetics where the distinction between the human and the artificial is effectively neutralized. In this post-historical state, the universe is governed by information and feedback loops, marking the end of the "cosmic epoch" and the birth of a new reality defined by autopoiesis—a system’s ability to reproduce and maintain itself without external teleology.
### **From Onto-Genesis to Techno-Genesis**
The author explores the evolution of the human condition, shifting from *Homo sapiens* to *Homo kybernetes*. Key takeaways from this transformation include:
- **Redefining the Human**: The human subject is no longer the center of the world but a hybrid node in a global, planetary network.
- **Techno-genesis as Destiny**: Our evolution is no longer defined by biological naturalism but by the technical construction of artificial life.
- **The Role of Information**: Information is identified as the absolute measure of all things, surpassing matter and energy as the fundamental framework for reality.
### **The Technosphere, Nihilism, and Aesthetics**
Paić connects the rise of the technosphere to a third order of nihilism, characterized by a collapsing-and-creating event. This is not necessarily a destructive nihilism, but an "autopoietic" one where the traditional binary oppositions of Western metaphysics—such as subject/object, nature/culture, and being/becoming—collapse.
- **The End of Phenomenology**: Traditional phenomenological approaches, which rely on the human body as the center of intentionality, are rendered obsolete in a world of fractal, hybrid, and synthetic entities.
- **Visualization vs. Language**: Philosophy and art are shifting from linguistic, meaning-based structures to pictorial and algorithmic ones; the digital image is now a product of calculation rather than mimesis.
- **Freedom as Contingency**: Freedom is redefined not as an eternal fate granted by the divine, but as a contingent event—a metastable equilibrium in a world of chaos, entropy, and technological singularity.
### **The Existential Status of the Body**
The text challenges the classical understanding of the body, moving beyond the phenomenological focus on the "lived body" toward an aesthetics of self-shaping. The body is increasingly treated as a technical object or a "phantom" that can be modified, replicated, or replaced. This leads to a state where:
- **Disembodiment**: The drive toward singularity leads to a form of existence that is indifferent to traditional biological limits.
- **The Inhuman**: The "uncanny" nature of technology is no longer a source of existential dread but the fertile ground from which new, autonomous, and self-regulating realities emerge.
### **Summary**
In essence, Žarko Paić characterizes the technosphere as a totalizing system that has rendered traditional humanism and metaphysical discourse insufficient. By synthesizing cybernetic theory with continental philosophy, the text suggests that we have entered a phase where the "human" is simply a stage in the evolution toward a hybrid, self-managed, and technologically constructed reality, demanding a fundamental reevaluation of what it means to exist in a world defined by absolute calculation.