Dennis Weiss | York College of Pennsylvania (original) (raw)

Papers by Dennis Weiss

Paolo Bacigalupi's short story "The People of Sand and Slag" is an affecting narrative in which a... more Paolo Bacigalupi's short story "The People of Sand and Slag" is an affecting narrative in which a trio of human cyborgs encounter for the first time a living animal, a dog. Initially a mystery to them, they wonder how an unmodified, organic creature could ever have survived. Taken by the animal's vulnerability, they initially care for it, before deciding that it is too much trouble and eat it. The central character, though, occasionally has regrets: "I remember when the dog licked my face and hauled its shaggy bulk onto my bed, and I remember its warm breathing beside me, and sometimes, I miss it." This presentation uses Bacigalupi's story as a lens to examine two competing boundary implosions central to discussions of the Anthropocene and posthumanism: human-animal and organism-machine. Much contemporary philosophy of technology focuses on the breakdown of the organism-machine boundary, telling a story of technogenesis and the origin of the human being, while largely ignoring questions about the human-animal boundary. I argue that these contemporary accounts of homo faber are ill-suited to addressing the challenges of the Anthropocene and that a feminist posthumanism informed by Cynthia Willett's biosocial eros ethics, with its emphasis on eros, home, and play, offers a better starting point. Such a framework points to the limitations of approaching the Anthropocene through the lens of design and technology, suggesting instead that we begin with our ineluctable involvement with nonhuman nature, including that dog. In these brief comments, I'd like to push back a bit on the conference's focus on technology, design, and the Anthropocene by suggesting that philosophy of technology would be well served by beginning from a standpoint that recognizes the importance of natality and the role of infants and children in formulating a response to the Anthropocene. I'll do so by beginning with three vignettes of a sort and then draw out six observations.

Film and Philosophy, 2023

Natality and the Posthuman Condition "I always knew you were special. Maybe this is how. A child.... more Natality and the Posthuman Condition "I always knew you were special. Maybe this is how. A child. Of woman born. Pushed into the world. Wanted. Loved. You're special. Born, not made.. .. A real boy now."-Joi, Blade Runner 2049 Therapist: Basically, the patient identifies as Synthetic. Joe: So she wants to be one of them? Therapist: Perhaps she wants to be treated like one. We know Synths are incapable of conscious thought, but to a child, they're as real as you and I. Perfect, kind, gentle versions of all the adults around them. They never fight, they never get upset, they never worry or let you down. It's also possible that for Sophie, the boundaries between what is considered Synthetic and what is considered human have been blurred somehow. No Synths, just her mum and dad, family and friends.-Humans SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION W hile the inventor, Singularitarian, and sage of transhumanism Ray Kurzweil is perhaps not the most reputable starting point for an essay about film, television, and the posthuman, he was on to something in his 1999 The Age of Spiritual Machines when he observed at the close of the twentieth century that we had no shortage of death and human problems, and that looking forward to the twenty-first century things would be different. In Dennis M. Weiss ■ 2 Dennis M. Weiss the coming post-biological future, we would be on the verge of changing the nature of mortality, leading to a profound change in humanity, though he immediately then observes, Actually, let me take that back. The truth of that last statement depends on how we define human. And here we see one profound difference between these two centuries: The primary political and philosophical issue of the next century will be the definition of who we are. 1 ■ 4

Even though the television is probably our most ubiquitous and domesticated technology and that w... more Even though the television is probably our most ubiquitous and domesticated technology and that we in the U.S. and Europe watch a lot of television (on average four hours a day), the television continues to present challenges to theorists examining technology. At least when they bother to turn to it, for among the dominant approaches and theorists in philosophy of technology, the lowly television seldom rates analysis, its domestic stain perhaps serving to marginalize it from high theory. And while it was supposed to have been swept aside in the digital revolution at the turn of the century, television is still very much with us, its technological form mutating and its content generating a so-called second golden age. In posing the question, "how ought we to treat our televisions?," I'll suggest that the television calls forth a transdisciplinary approach to technology that brings into close conversation philosophy of technology and cultural studies. Such an approach would serve to address the lack of attention to culture in philosophy of technology and the lack of normative considerations in cultural studies. Properly caring for our televisions, it is suggested, will prove fruitful to philosophy of technology, cultural studies, and those of us who watch and enjoy our televisions.

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... best work is her probing analysis of the transcripts of the Macy Conferences, where ... In he... more ... best work is her probing analysis of the transcripts of the Macy Conferences, where ... In her work Divided Minds and Successive Selves, Jennifer Radden, drawing again on Hume ... Dorothy Holland and Andrew Kipnis, as well, argue that their research on American experiences of ...

Naturalist views of persons, such as those of the philosophers Annette Baier and Marjorie Grene, ... more Naturalist views of persons, such as those of the philosophers Annette Baier and Marjorie Grene, emphasize that human persons are cultural animals: We are living, embodied, organic beings, embedded in nature, the product of Darwinian evolution, but dependent on culture. Such naturalist views of persons typically eschew science fiction and look askance at the philosophical fantasies and thought experiments that often populate philosophical treatments of personal identity. Marge Piercy’s dystopian, cyberpunk, science fiction novel He, She and It weaves a complex tale around the debate over the status of its central character Yod, a cyborg created in a lab but humanized through the efforts of two women, Malkah Shipman and her granddaughter Shira Shipman. Is Yod a person, despite having been engineered in a lab for a specific purpose? Piercy’s tale both challenges and ultimately supports a naturalist view of persons while simultaneously forewarning us of possible new styles of persons...

Azimuth, 2019

To open a space in which to think about subjectivity and the digital culture, we might begin with... more To open a space in which to think about subjectivity and the digital culture, we might begin with a youthful avatar of a human future lived in the company of digital technologies. Sophie Hawkins, the youngest child of Joe and Laura Hawkins, has bonded indelibly with the various synthetic life forms that have been brought into her home. Perhaps too indelibly. Displaying signs of unconscious mirroring behavior, Sophie is diagnosed with Juvenile Synthetic Overidentification Disorder (JSOD). She longs for the perfection and emotional stability of synthetic life forms and is one of a growing number of human children who pretend to be synthetic. As a therapist explains this new disorder to Joe and Laura: Therapist: Basically, the patient identifies as Synthetic. Joe: So she wants to be one of them? Therapist: Perhaps she wants to be treated like one. We know Synths are incapable of conscious thought, but to a child, they're as real as you and I. Perfect, kind, gentle versions of all the adults around them. They never fight, they never get upset, they never worry or let you down. It's also possible that for Sophie, the boundaries between what is considered Synthetic and what is considered human have been blurred somehow 1 .

Cosmetic Surgery: A Feminist Primer, 2009

in this chapter we treat Extreme Makeover as an exemplary text for the purpose of critically exam... more in this chapter we treat Extreme Makeover as an exemplary text for the purpose of critically examining the conceptual ground of the debate over the ethics of "radical" bodily transformation. situating Extreme Makeover as part of a constellation of discourses revolving around biotechnology, human enhancement, and the limits of self-fashioning, we argue that in interesting and contradictory ways the show challenges familiar frameworks in this debate. Highlighting the constructed nature of beauty and femininity while it simultaneously reinforces the production of a "natural look," Extreme Makeover visually displays tensions that also exist in two popular philosophical positions on human enhancement: a libertarian position that naturalizes our capacity for transformation and an essentialist position that imposes ethical limits on those transformations in the name of nature. We argue that an examination of these positions through a close reading of Extreme Makeover points to conceptual difficulties in their normative deployment of nature. These conceptual tensions can also be found in some feminist theorizing about cosmetic surgery. We argue that addressing these tensions requires greater attention to the nature of norms, the natural, and how the natural functions in this performative context, and use Extreme Makeover as a springboard for concretizing a feminist understanding of the notion of "naturalness." Reading Extreme Makeover Extreme Makeover is a show whose very title seems to promise radical transformations, celebrating a vision of an age of voluntaristic control over our bodies, and through them, our identities. the show premiered in 2002 and over three seasons featured close to 100 individuals undergoing makeovers. The typical structure of the show featured two, sometimes three individuals selected for makeovers. The narratives of the makeover candidates were presented through a video montage introducing the candidates, their family and friends, and highlighting how the candidates' looks led to a lack of self-esteem or to insecurity, and how particular elements of their body have gotten in the way of their happiness. many

Post-Screen: Intermittence + Interference, 2016

Critical posthumanism must come to terms with the place of television as a significant element in... more Critical posthumanism must come to terms with the place of television as a significant element in post-screen cyberculture. Contemporary accounts of human-technology relations minimize the role of the television in discussions of the posthuman. Media theorists have been more accommodating to television but their analyses often focus exclusively on either the medium or the message, failing to take the full measure of the technology. What is needed is a richer framework leading to a deeper recognition of television's role in defining a critical posthumanism. This presentation begins to lay the foundation for such a framework.

Literature/Film Quarterly, 2021

On initial viewing, Martin Scorsese's 2011 film Hugo is likely to leave viewers puzzled. A bigbud... more On initial viewing, Martin Scorsese's 2011 film Hugo is likely to leave viewers puzzled. A bigbudget, family-friendly, 3-D film featuring heavy use of computer-generated imagery, hardly seems like the kind of fare expected from an auteur whose oeuvre, including Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, and Casino, skews more gritty, realistic, masculine, and violent. Upon further reflection, such puzzles might be resolved by recognizing Scorsese's long-standing interest in film preservation. Scorsese is founder and chair of The Film Foundation, dedicated to protecting and preserving motion picture history, and Hugo itself can be read as an argument for film

Southwest Philosophy Review, 1995

The Utopian Fantastic, 2004

In 1984, during Super Bowl halftime, television watchers were treated to a commercial that initia... more In 1984, during Super Bowl halftime, television watchers were treated to a commercial that initiated a conversation about technology and utopia that continues today. During that commercial, Big Brother is shown glowering down from a monumental television screen, haranguing a pathetic mass of workers. Suddenly from their ranks, a rebellious young woman emerges. Rushing forward she flings a hammer toward the screen, shattering it, freeing the enslaved masses, introducing the halftime crowd to the Apple Macintosh, and, at least symbolically, starting the computer revolution for couch potatoes and football fans all around the world. By playing off, as it does, the themes of utopia, dystopia, and the digital culture, this commercial nicely illustrates many of the themes I take up in this chapter, which will focus on a central issue being worked out not only in the selling and the marketing of the digital future but in its more, or perhaps less, imaginary moments in science fiction. Central to this debate is the question of what kind of future we are creating and whether we will have a place in it. We can learn a lot about the contours of this debate from a close reading of science fiction, especially the work of William Gibson, who, like that prescient Apple commercial, has done much to initiate and shape this debate, beginning with the publication of Neuromancer, also released in 1984, a good year for utopias and dystopias. Allow me to begin by setting out what I will call the problem of homelessness. It is against the backdrop of this problem that we can deepen our understanding of the issue of our place in the digital cosmos and its treatment in contemporary science fiction. In 1938, writing about man's place in the cosmos, Martin Buber distinguished between epochs of habitation and epochs of homelessness. "In the former," Buber writes, "man lives in the world as in a house, as in a home. In the latter, man lives in the world as in an open field and at times does not even

Humanities and Technology Review, 2011

Addressing the issue of whether we ought to transform humanity presupposes a clear philosophical ... more Addressing the issue of whether we ought to transform humanity presupposes a clear philosophical grasp of two terms central to the debate: human nature and technology. And yet this has been lacking in the debate over the posthuman. Transhumanists and bioconservatives lack a sufficiently thick and rich framework in which to address these issues. This essay seeks to address this lack, suggesting that Ernst Cassirer’s account of the human being as a symbolic animal provides a philosophy of culture, philosophical anthropology, and philosophy of technology that might serve as the building blocks of such a framework.

Design, Mediation, and the Posthuman, 2014

What happens when our object world starts talking back to us and engaging us emotionally and rela... more What happens when our object world starts talking back to us and engaging us emotionally and relationally? How ought we to respond to the growing recognition that our social lives are increasingly mediated by technical artifacts and that the boundary between user and artifact, human and thing, is disappearing? In order to get a handle on these key questions for the twentyfirst century, I'd like to begin by looking back to a watershed moment in the history of human-technology relations. This particular moment takes place in 2046 on an asteroid nine million miles from Earth where convicted criminal James A. Corry is in his fourth year of a fifty-year sentence of solitary confinement, and he is lonely. Profoundly lonely. And he can't take it anymore. The captain of a supply ship, Allenby, has tried to alleviate Corry's loneliness by bringing him books, playing cards, the parts to an antique automobile, but these have provided only temporary solace. He still feels "a sobbing hunger for someone of his own kind. A shaky, pulsating yearning to hear a voice other than his own." Indeed, he fears becoming an inanimate object akin to his antique automobile: ". .. but maybe I'll become like that car. Inanimate. Just an item sitting in the sand-and then would I feel loneliness?" (Serling 1961). But then on one supply run Allenby secretly brings him something entirely different: Alicia, a robot built in the form of a woman. The manual that accompanies Alicia states that "physiologically and psychologically she is a human being with a set of emotions and a memory track. The ability to reason, to think and to speak" (Serling 1959

Journal of Science Fiction and Philosophy, 2018

Naturalist views of persons, such as those of the philosophers Annette Baier and Marjorie Grene, ... more Naturalist views of persons, such as those of the philosophers Annette Baier and Marjorie Grene, emphasize that human persons are cultural animals: We are living, embodied, organic beings, embedded in nature, the product of Darwinian evolution, but dependent on culture. Such naturalist views of persons typically eschew science fiction and look askance at the philosophical fantasies and thought experiments that often populate philosophical treatments of personal identity. Marge Piercy's dystopian, cyberpunk, science fiction novel He, She and It weaves a complex tale around the debate over the status of its central character Yod, a cyborg created in a lab but humanized through the efforts of two women, Malkah Shipman and her granddaughter Shira Shipman. Is Yod a person, despite having been engineered in a lab for a specific purpose? Piercy's tale both challenges and ultimately supports a naturalist view of persons while simultaneously forewarning us of possible new styles of persons to come. 1

Expositions, 2007

This essay aims to demonstrate that the philosophical anthropology of Michael Landmann provides i... more This essay aims to demonstrate that the philosophical anthropology of Michael Landmann provides important critical tools and resources for intervening in the debate over the posthuman and the turning point that humanity faces due to the advancing powers of technologies such as genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, and cybernetics. Landmann's view of the human being, which emphasizes the correlative conditions of creativity and culturality, freedom and determinacy, and malleability and fixity, provides the grounds on which to critique the current structure of the debate over the posthuman and resituate it in terms of our historicity and self-images. The rhetorically charged trope of the posthuman, with its emphasis on a break or turning point, risks cutting us off from significant resources for understanding human nature, including the resources of philosophical anthropology, and does not advance our understanding of our current situation and the current dilemmas human beings face in light of our advancing technological powers. The February, 2000 issue of Wired magazine, the magazine of and for the digerati, features on its cover a photo of "cybernetics pioneer" Kevin Warwick, his shirt sleeve rolled up, as if ready for a fix. But in this case "the fix" is a superimposed x-ray image that discloses a glass-enclosed microchip surgically implanted in Warwick's left arm. Warwick, the cover announces, is upgrading the human body-starting with himself. "Cyborg 1.0," the accompanying article penned by Warwick, outlines his plan to become one with his computer. Writes Warwick: "I was born human. But this was an accident of fate-a condition merely of time and place. I believe it's something we have the power to change. I will tell you why" (2000, 145). Warwick intends to implant a chip in Humanity at the Turning Point © Equinox Publishing Ltd. 2007 his arm that will send signals back and forth between his nervous system and a computer. For Warwick, being human is merely an accident of time and place, an accident that given the right computing power and the right cybernetics, we might well be able to fix. Two months later, Wired has had a change of heart-speaking only figuratively at this point in time. The cover of the April, 2000 edition features a crumpled page torn perhaps from a dictionary, maybe Webster's Twenty-first Century Unabridged. On this discarded page we read: "human adj. 1. of, belonging to, or typical of the extinct species Homo sapiens 2. what consisted of or was produced by Homo sapiens n. an extinct biped, Homo Sapiens, characterized by carbon-based anatomy; also HUMAN BEING." Bill Joy, cofounder and Chief Scientist of Sun Microsystems, has been having second thoughts about the computer revolution and in his article "Why the Future Doesn't Need Us" explores how it is that "our most powerful twenty-first-century technologies-robotics, genetic engineering, and nanotech-are threatening to make humans an endangered species" (2000, 238). It's time, Joy thinks, to wake up and smell the Terminator. Warwick versus Joy. Human versus Post-human. It would seem from this battle being played out on the cover of Wired that humanity has indeed arrived at a turning point. We have reached a point where we are poised to take control of our evolutionary future, transforming ourselves and our progeny from the accident of our humanity into well-designed posthumanity. Or, in our hubris, we have reached the point where we are poised to eliminate the human being once and for all. This narrative, of the end of the human and the coming of the posthuman, is a fairly common one today, played out not only on the covers of magazines such as Wired but in movies, television talk shows, and academic tomes. It is this narrative regarding the turning point at which humanity has arrived that I wish to interrogate in this essay. For all the attention that our posthuman future receives today, much of the narrative surrounding this currently popular trope is ill-conceived. The claim that we have arrived at a turning point, represented either by the promise or the threat of the posthuman, is mistaken. Furthermore, it

Paladyn, Journal of Behavioral Robotics, Feb 18, 2020

This essay examines the debate over the status of sociable robots and relational artifacts throug... more This essay examines the debate over the status of sociable robots and relational artifacts through the prism of our relationship to television. In their work on humantechnology relations, Cynthia Breazeal and Sherry Turkle have staked out starkly different assessments. Breazeal's work on sociable robots suggests that these technological artifacts will be human helpmates and sociable companions. Sherry Turkle argues that such relational artifacts seduce us into simulated relationships with technological others that largely serve to exploit our emotional vulnerabilities and undermine authentic human relationships. Drawing on an analysis of the television as our first relational artifact and on the AMC television show Humans, this essay argues that in order to intervene in this debate we need a multimediated theory of technology that situates our technical artifacts in the domestic realm and examines their impact on those populations especially impacted by such technologies, including women, children, and the elderly. It is only then that we will be able to take the full measure of the impact of such sociable technologies on our being human.

The Ultimate Star Trek and Philosophy: The Search for Socrates, 2016

Putting aside any heated debate over the identity of the first episode of TOS (by airdate? produc... more Putting aside any heated debate over the identity of the first episode of TOS (by airdate? production order? pilot one? pilot two?), for the sake of discussion, let's go with "Where No Man Has Gone Before." 1 Besides being the series' second-chance pilot, it institutes Kirk's familiar voiceover from the opening credits of TOS and significantly featured Kirk's best friend, Gary Mitchell, who becomes godlike after the ship passes through the galactic barrier. Mitchell promises his fellow ESPer, Elizabeth Dehner, miraculous powers: "To be like God, to have the power to make the world anything you want it to be." Of course, we know the result. The episode ends with Kirk recording his Captain's Log: "Add to official losses, Doctor Elizabeth Dehner. Be it noted she gave her life in performance of her duty. Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell, same notation." Kirk tells Spock, "I want his service record to end that way. He didn't ask for what happened to him." Having been transformed into a god, Mitchell loses his humanity and ultimately his life. "Where No Man. .. " is just one of several early TOS episodes that involve stories of transformation that raise questions about the humanity of an individual. "Charlie X" features a human foundling raised by aliens unable to integrate back into human society. The salt-craving alien of "The Man Trap" is able to shapeshift and take on the guise of different human beings. "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" presents a classic Star Trek take on a human being becoming technological (Roger Korby) and a machine striving to become human (Andrea).

Film and Philosophy, 2023

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Azimuth, 2019

Cosmetic Surgery: A Feminist Primer, 2009

Post-Screen: Intermittence + Interference, 2016

Literature/Film Quarterly, 2021

Southwest Philosophy Review, 1995

The Utopian Fantastic, 2004

Humanities and Technology Review, 2011

Design, Mediation, and the Posthuman, 2014

Journal of Science Fiction and Philosophy, 2018

Naturalist views of persons, such as those of the philosophers Annette Baier and Marjorie Grene, ... more Naturalist views of persons, such as those of the philosophers Annette Baier and Marjorie Grene, emphasize that human persons are cultural animals: We are living, embodied, organic beings, embedded in nature, the product of Darwinian evolution, but dependent on culture. Such naturalist views of persons typically eschew science fiction and look askance at the philosophical fantasies and thought experiments that often populate philosophical treatments of personal identity. Marge Piercy's dystopian, cyberpunk, science fiction novel He, She and It weaves a complex tale around the debate over the status of its central character Yod, a cyborg created in a lab but humanized through the efforts of two women, Malkah Shipman and her granddaughter Shira Shipman. Is Yod a person, despite having been engineered in a lab for a specific purpose? Piercy's tale both challenges and ultimately supports a naturalist view of persons while simultaneously forewarning us of possible new styles of persons to come. 1

Expositions, 2007

Paladyn, Journal of Behavioral Robotics, Feb 18, 2020

The Ultimate Star Trek and Philosophy: The Search for Socrates, 2016

Biannual Conference of the Society for Philosophy and Technology, 2017