New Romantic Cyborgs: Romanticism, Information Technology, and the End of the Machine (The MIT Press)

An account of the complex relationship between technology and romanticism that links nineteenth-century monsters, automata, and mesmerism with twenty-first-century technology's magic devices and romantic cyborgs. Romanticism and technology are widely assumed to be opposed to each other. Romanticism--understood as a reaction against rationalism and objectivity--is perhaps the last thing users and developers of information and communication technology (ICT) think about when they engage with computer programs and electronic devices. And yet, as Mark Coeckelbergh argues in this book, this way of thinking about technology is itself shaped by romanticism and obscures a better and deeper understanding of our relationship to technology. Coeckelbergh describes the complex relationship between technology and romanticism that links nineteenth-century monsters, automata, and mesmerism with twenty-first-century technology's magic devices and romantic cyborgs. Coeckelbergh argues that current uses of ICT can be interpreted as attempting a marriage of Enlightenment rationalism and romanticism. He describes the "romantic dialectic," when this new kind of material romanticism, particularly in the form of the cyborg as romantic figure, seems to turn into its opposite. He shows that both material romanticism and the objections to it are still part of modern thinking, and part of the romantic dialectic. Reflecting on what he calls "the end of the machine," Coeckelbergh argues that to achieve a more profound critique of contemporary technologies and culture, we need to explore not only different ways of thinking but also different technologies--and that to accomplish the former we require the latter. Contents......Page 9 Acknowledgments......Page 11 Romanticism as a Cultural-Historical Phenomenon......Page 13 Technology and Romanticism: Main Argument and Narrative of the Book......Page 15 Position in the Literature and Approach......Page 19 Structure of the Book and Overview of Chapters......Page 23 I Romanticism against the Machine......Page 31 The Birth of Romanticism in France: Rousseau’s Nature......Page 33 German Romanticism: Novalis and the Depths of the Spirit......Page 39 British Romanticism and Beyond: Sublime Nature, Gothic Castles, and Romantic-Socialist Utopia......Page 54 Romanticism in Contemporary Times: From the Counterculture in the 1960s and 1970s to Contemporary Romanticism......Page 73 3 Romanticism against the Machine?......Page 83 Weber, Heidegger, and Benjamin on Modern Technology......Page 84 Contemporary Philosophy of Technology: Antiromantic and (Therefore) Romantic......Page 93 The Machine in the Garden: Romantic Pastoralism versus Modern Technology?......Page 96 Conclusion......Page 105 II Romanticism with the Machine......Page 107 4 Romanticism with the Machine (1): From Frankenstein’s Monster to Hippie Computing......Page 109 Science, Technology, and Wonder in the Early Nineteenth Century......Page 110 Early Twentieth-Century Romantic Science: Freud on the Unconscious and Uncanny......Page 119 Twentieth-Century Science Fiction: Mechanical and Other Romanticisms for the Masses......Page 125 Hippie Computing: Romanticism as One of the Parents of Contemporary ICTs......Page 136 Conclusion......Page 145 5 Romanticism with the Machine (2): Cyberromanticism, Uncanny Robots, Romantic Cyborgs, and Spooky Science......Page 147 The 1990s Internet and Its Romantic Spaces: Liberation, Identity, and Intimacy in Cyberspace, Virtual Reality, MUDs, and Early Video Games......Page 149 Romantic Robots: Uncanny Machines and the Romantic Dream of the Artificial Partner (or Nightmare of the Destructive Double?)......Page 186 Romantic Cyborgs: The Romantic Dream of Merging Culture and Matter, Humans, and Machines......Page 191 Human Enhancement and Transhumanism: Romanticism Uploaded......Page 202 The Internet of Things: Reenchanting the World, Creating a New Enchanted Garden......Page 209 Augmented Reality: Reenchanting the World by Merging Real and Virtual......Page 211 Spooky Things and Alien Appearances, or Yet Another Way of Reenchanting the World: The Technologies of Physics and Astronomy and the Question of Whether the Moon Is There If We Do Not Look at It......Page 214 Animal Spirits in Economics......Page 218 III Beyond Romanticism? Beyond the Machine?......Page 221 6 Criticisms of Romanticism and of the End-of-theMachine Vision......Page 223 Traditional Criticisms of Romanticism: Narcissus at the Pool and the Platonic-Romantic Dream of Arcadia......Page 226 Criticisms of Technoromanticism......Page 241 Less Distance, Please, and an Alternative Epistemology: Toward Less Dualistic Thinking......Page 252 Can (Techno)Romanticism Be Redeemed?......Page 260 7 Beyond Romanticism and beyond Modernity: Toward the (Real) End of the Machine?......Page 265 Beyond the Machine (The End of the Machine 2): Skilled Engagement and Narrative Technologies......Page 269 Beyond the Disenchantment Myth......Page 276 Conclusion: Romanticism Once More?......Page 286 2 Romanticism......Page 293 4 Romanticism with the Machine (1): From Frankenstein’s Monster to Hippie Computing......Page 294 5 Romanticism with the Machine (2): Cyberromanticism, Uncanny Robots, Romantic Cyborgs, and Spooky Science......Page 295 7 Beyond Romanticism and beyond Modernity: Toward the (Real) End of the Machine?......Page 299 References......Page 301 Index......Page 313 Contents 9 Acknowledgments 11 1 Introduction: The Question Concerning Technology and Romanticism 13 Romanticism as a Cultural-Historical Phenomenon 13 Technology and Romanticism: Main Argument and Narrative of the Book 15 Position in the Literature and Approach 19 Structure of the Book and Overview of Chapters 23 I Romanticism against the Machine 31 2 Romanticism 33 The Birth of Romanticism in France: Rousseau’s Nature 33 German Romanticism: Novalis and the Depths of the Spirit 39 British Romanticism and Beyond: Sublime Nature, Gothic Castles, and Romantic-Socialist Utopia 54 Romanticism in Contemporary Times: From the Counterculture in the 1960s and 1970s to Contemporary Romanticism 73 3 Romanticism against the Machine? 83 Weber, Heidegger, and Benjamin on Modern Technology 84 Contemporary Philosophy of Technology: Antiromantic and (Therefore) Romantic 93 The Machine in the Garden: Romantic Pastoralism versus Modern Technology? 96 Conclusion 105 II Romanticism with the Machine 107 4 Romanticism with the Machine (1): From Frankenstein’s Monster to Hippie Computing 109 Science, Technology, and Wonder in the Early Nineteenth Century 110 Early Twentieth-Century Romantic Science: Freud on the Unconscious and Uncanny 119 Twentieth-Century Science Fiction: Mechanical and Other Romanticisms for the Masses 125 Hippie Computing: Romanticism as One of the Parents of Contemporary ICTs 136 Conclusion 145 5 Romanticism with the Machine (2): Cyberromanticism, Uncanny Robots, Romantic Cyborgs, and Spooky Science 147 The 1990s Internet and Its Romantic Spaces: Liberation, Identity, and Intimacy in Cyberspace, Virtual Reality, MUDs, and Early Video Games 149 Romantic Robots: Uncanny Machines and the Romantic Dream of the Artificial Partner (or Nightmare of the Destructive Double?) 186 Romantic Cyborgs: The Romantic Dream of Merging Culture and Matter, Humans, and Machines 191 Human Enhancement and Transhumanism: Romanticism Uploaded 202 The Internet of Things: Reenchanting the World, Creating a New Enchanted Garden 209 Augmented Reality: Reenchanting the World by Merging Real and Virtual 211 Spooky Things and Alien Appearances, or Yet Another Way of Reenchanting the World: The Technologies of Physics and Astronomy and the Question of Whether the Moon Is There If We Do Not Look at It 214 Animal Spirits in Economics 218 III Beyond Romanticism? Beyond the Machine? 221 6 Criticisms of Romanticism and of the End-of-theMachine Vision 223 Traditional Criticisms of Romanticism: Narcissus at the Pool and the Platonic-Romantic Dream of Arcadia 226 Criticisms of Technoromanticism 241 Less Distance, Please, and an Alternative Epistemology: Toward Less Dualistic Thinking 252 Can (Techno)Romanticism Be Redeemed? 260 7 Beyond Romanticism and beyond Modernity: Toward the (Real) End of the Machine? 265 Beyond the Machine (The End of the Machine 2): Skilled Engagement and Narrative Technologies 269 Beyond the Disenchantment Myth 276 Conclusion: Romanticism Once More? 286 Notes 293 1 Introduction: The Question Concerning Technology and Romanticism 293 2 Romanticism 293 3 Romanticism against the Machine? 294 4 Romanticism with the Machine (1): From Frankenstein’s Monster to Hippie Computing 294 5 Romanticism with the Machine (2): Cyberromanticism, Uncanny Robots, Romantic Cyborgs, and Spooky Science 295 6 Criticisms of Romanticism and of the End-of-the-Machine Vision 299 7 Beyond Romanticism and beyond Modernity: Toward the (Real) End of the Machine? 299 References 301 Index 313 Most people assume that technology and romanticism are opposed. They share this assumption with many contemporary philosophers of technology, who tend to reduce romanticism to nostalgia. This book questions these assumptions and shows that the relation between romanticism and technology is much more complex. For this purpose it delves into the history of technology and thinking about technology, from the early Romantics to hippie computing and today’s romantic cyborgs. The book updates the literature on technoromanticism, but also raises a new question: it seems that as machines become more human-like and informational, they disappear from view or merge with the human. Do we witness the end of the machine? The author then discusses criticisms of romanticism and of “the end of the machine” vision he constructed. Yet the author avoids a simplistic rejection or defence of technoromantic visions; when it comes to understanding technology, the romantic tradition is more ambiguous and also more resourceful that we might suppose. The book ends with the question if and how we could ever move beyond romanticism and beyond machine thinking. It turns out that, given the persistence of our modern-romantic form of life including language and technologies, the end of the machine is not even in sight. In the meantime, we have to live with our romantic machines, with our new cyborgs. That is, we have to live with ourselves as cyborgs: living meetings, mergers, and hybrids of romanticism and technology. The Question Concerning Technology And Romanticism -- Romanticism -- Romanticism Against The Machine -- Romanticism With The Machine -- Romanticism With The Machine (1) : From Frankenstein's Monster To Hippie Computing -- Romanticism With The Machine (2) : Cyber Romanticism, Uncanny Robots, Romantic Cyborgs, And Spooky Science -- Beyond Romanticism, Beyond The Machine -- Criticisms Of Romanticism And Of The End Of The Machine -- Beyond Romanticism And Beyond Modernity : Towards The (real) End Of The Machine. Mark Coeckelbergh. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.