Destiny Domesticated : The Rebirth of Tragedy Out of the Spirit of Technology

Analyzes contemporary technological society through the lens of Greek tragedy. Destiny Domesticated investigates three ways Western civilization has tried to tame fate: the heroic affirmation of fate in the tragic culture of the Greeks, the humble acceptance of divine providence in Christianity, and the abolition of fate in modern technological society. Against this background, Jos de Mul argues that the uncontrollability of technology introduces its own tragic dimension to our culture. Considering a range of literary texts and contemporary events, and drawing on twenty-five centuries of tragedy interpretation from philosophers such as Aristotle, Hegel, Nietzsche, and Heidegger, literary critics George Steiner and Terry Eagleton, and others, de Mul articulates a contemporary perspective on the tragic, shedding new light on philosophical topics such as free will, determinism, and the contingency of life Contents 6 Foreword 8 Acknowledgments 10 Prologue 12 When Fate Knocks 12 Europe—The Tragic Continent 14 Prometheus Bound 16 Fatal Signs 22 1. Destiny Domesticated 26 The Bijlmer Plane Crash 26 Necessity and Chance 28 Tragic, Christian, and Modern Providence 30 Living with Fate 39 2. Chance Living 48 “Who Am I? What Am I Doing Here?” 48 Accidental and Contingent Chance 49 Uncontrollable Fate 52 The Fragility of Happiness 56 3. Fatal Politics 62 Between Athens and Jerusalem 62 The Birth of Tragedy 65 From Antigone to Hirsi Ali 71 Sublime Suffering 81 4. The (Non-)Reproducibility of the Tragic 86 The Death of Tragedy 86 Christian and Modern “Elimination” of the Tragic 87 The (Post)Modern Resurrection of the Tragic 89 Tragic Repetition with a Difference 91 5. The Art of Suffering 96 The Sadist Universe 96 Fear, Pity, Catharsis 107 Sublimating the Sublime 117 The Lust of Suffering 131 6. Awesome Technologies 146 Ode to Man 146 Technological Ambivalence 149 Affirmation beyond Optimism and Pessimism 155 Tragic Technologies 158 7. Tragic Parenthood 164 The Savanna Case 164 Medea’s Daimon 168 The Schizophrenia of the Modern Concept of Man 190 Inevitable Blame 202 8. Fateful Machines 226 The Morality of “Our” Computers 227 Relativizing Ethics 230 Acting Machines 232 The Tragic Ethics of the Cyborg 238 9. Exodus 242 The Rebirth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Technology 242 Prometheus Unbound 253 Between Satyr and Cyborg 260 The Possibility of an Island 267 Notes 284 Works Cited 328 Name Index 344 Subject Index 350 __Analyzes contemporary technological society through the lens of Greek tragedy.____Destiny Domesticated__ investigates three ways Western civilization has tried to tame fate: the heroic affirmation of fate in the tragic culture of the Greeks, the humble acceptance of divine providence in Christianity, and the abolition of fate in modern technological society. Against this background, Jos de Mul argues that the uncontrollability of technology introduces its own tragic dimension to our culture. Considering a range of literary texts and contemporary events, and drawing on twenty-five centuries of tragedy interpretation from philosophers such as Aristotle, Hegel, Nietzsche, and Heidegger, literary critics George Steiner and Terry Eagleton, and others, de Mul articulates a contemporary perspective on the tragic, shedding new light on philosophical topics such as free will, determinism, and the contingency of life An Analysis Of Contemporary Technological Society Through The Lens Of Greek Tragedy--provided By Publisher. 1 Destiny Domesticated 1 -- 2 Chance Living 23 -- 3 Fatal Politics 37 -- 4 The (non-)reproducibility Of The Tragic 61 -- 5 The Art Of Suffering 71 -- 6 Awesome Technologies 121 -- 7 Tragic Parenthood 139 -- 8 Fateful Machines 201 -- 9 Exodus 217. Jos De Mul ; With Translation Assistance From Bibi Van Den Berg. Translated From The Dutch. Originally Published As De Domesticatie Van Het Noodlot : De Wedergeboorte Van De Tragedie Uit De Geest Van De Technologie ©2006 Klement & Pelckmans. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. "An analysis of contemporary technological society through the lens of Greek tragedy"-- Suministrado por el Editor