Ross, Anthony John Charles (2012) Correspondents Theory 1800/2000: Philosophical Reflections Upon Epistolary Technics and Praxis in the Analogue and Digital
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Ross, Anthony John Charles (2012) Correspondents theory 1800/2000: philosophical reflections upon epistolary technics and praxis in the analogue and digital. PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/3146/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] Correspondents Theory 1800/2000 Philosophical Reflections upon Epistolary Technics and Praxis in the Analogue and Digital Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Anthony John Charles Ross Humanities Advanced Technology and Information Institute College of Arts University of Glasgow January 2012 Abstract When we talk about things like the ‘lost art of letter-writing’ or the ‘digital communications revolution,’ what do we mean? What do we lose and what do we gain as we move towards digital ways of being in the world? Critically engaging with many of the canonical writers in the philosophy of technology (Martin Heidegger, Albert Borgmann, Don Ihde, Bruno Latour, Hubert Dreyfus and Jürgen Habermas, for example), and following what has been termed the ‘empirical turn’ in that discipline, this thesis answers such questions by means of a philosophical, comparative study of epistolary technics and praxis in the early nineteenth and 21st centuries, making use of Romantic era archival letters and related materials to compare and contrast our own, Internet-enabled experience of communicating over distance. In so doing, it seeks to contribute towards our understanding of the ways in which information and communication technologies influence humanity by taking a long-view of many of the more radical claims (whether optimistic or pessimistic) for the ways in which the Internet effects change in culture, society and self. The thesis is structured thematically, with chapters examining the experience of distance and presence in these two periods, the potential for meaningful engagements by way of communicative media, the technological reconfiguration of social networks, and shifts in the public/private distinction. In its conclusions it is broadly sympathetic to the somewhat pessimistic positions of Heidegger and Borgmann, finding evidence and supplying argument to support the notion that the Internet does in some circumstances serve to diminish our meaningful involvements with the world and each other. It is, however, critical of many of the more extreme arguments for the substantive impact of the Internet, which very often lean too heavily towards naive technological determinism, neglect the social shaping of technology, overemphasise the radical novelty of the Internet, or simply deny or downplay many of its undoubted benefits. ii Table of Contents Preface................................................................................................................................v Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................... viii Author’s Declaration..........................................................................................................x 1 Introduction: “Social Networking didn’t start with Facebook” .......................1 1.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................1 1.2 The Question of Radical Novelty............................................................................4 1.3 The General Approach of this Thesis......................................................................9 1.4 The Harden/Allan Collection ................................................................................12 1.5 Why Philosophy of Technology? ..........................................................................15 2 Questions Concerning Technology: Philosophy, Humanity, Technics...........19 2.1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................19 2.2 Phenomenology of Technology (1): Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty ....................21 2.3 Phenomenology of Technology (2): Ihde on Human-Technology Relations .......24 2.4 Substantivism in Heidegger and Borgmann ..........................................................29 2.5 Technological Determinism in McLuhan..............................................................35 2.6 Social Constructivism............................................................................................39 2.7 Latour and Actor-Network Theory........................................................................41 2.8 Conclusion.............................................................................................................43 3 Where Am I and Where Are My Documents? Distance and Presence in Epistolary Networks............................................................................................46 3.1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................46 3.2 Heidegger on why “Short Distance is not in itself Nearness”...............................47 3.3 Location, Situation, Experience ............................................................................50 3.4 Presentation and Re-presentation ..........................................................................57 3.5 Two Objections .....................................................................................................59 3.6 Epistolary Presents ................................................................................................62 3.7 Digital (Im)materiality ..........................................................................................67 3.8 Conclusion.............................................................................................................72 4 What Makes the Desert Beautiful? Familiar Letters as Focal Things ...........75 4.1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................75 4.2 Borgmann on Focal Things and Devices...............................................................76 4.3 Borgmann on Information Technology.................................................................79 4.4 Criticisms of Borgmann ........................................................................................81 4.5 Hand/Writing: Technology and the Effort of Inscription......................................85 4.6 Skill, Attention and the Epistolary Art..................................................................87 4.7 Patience in the Wait for Words .............................................................................91 4.8 Effort, Collusion and the Costs of Carriage ..........................................................95 4.9 Involvement, Orientation, and the Postal Service .................................................98 4.10 Togetherness and Community in the Commerce of Letters..................................99 4.11 Conclusion...........................................................................................................103 5 Talking to Strangers: Communion and Alienation in Social Networks.......105 5.1 Introduction .........................................................................................................105 5.2 In Search of Community .....................................................................................106 5.3 Altered Appearances ...........................................................................................109 iii 5.4 Extended Connectivity ........................................................................................114 5.5 Bliss that Dawn: Utopian Dreams, Unrealistic Expectations..............................118 5.6 The Internet Alienation Thesis (1): Is Online Interaction Deficient?..................121 5.7 The Internet Alienation Thesis (2): Does Online Displace Offline Interaction?.127 5.8 ‘Real’ Versus ’Virtual’: A False Dichotomy.......................................................130 5.9 Conclusion...........................................................................................................136 6 Problems of Proximity: On Privacy and Publicity (and Porcupines)...........139 6.1 Introduction .........................................................................................................139 6.2 Defining Privacy and Publicity ...........................................................................142 6.3 Altman and the Dynamics of the Private/Public Boundary ................................146 6.4 A Brief History of Western Privacy....................................................................148 6.5 Epistolary Privacy and Publicity (1): Blurring Distinctions ...............................154 6.6 Epistolary Privacy and Publicity (2): Keeping Control.......................................158 6.7 The Digital Environment.....................................................................................163 6.8