4pm, Dalhousie 2F15
Or online here.
In the 18th century, criticism of mechanism led to a new discourse on the organic form, largely inspired by research in the natural sciences. The most significant exploration of this concept can be found in Kant’s Critique of Judgment, where he proposed an alternative model based on organic structure and reflective operation. It may not be an exaggeration to claim that the third Critique imposed an organic condition on philosophizing, shaping the trajectory of modern philosophy—most notably among the post-Kantian idealists such as Schelling and Hegel, but also in the organismic philosophy inspired by the work of Whitehead. In this talk, I suggest that the rise of cybernetics in the second half of the 20th century has called this condition into question. The non-linear causal models articulated by Wiener et al, later expanded by theorists of so-called second-order cybernetics, compel us to reconsider the conditions of philosophizing today—especially in light of the current discourse around generative artificial intelligence.
Yuk Hui is a Hong Kong philosopher and Professor of Philosophy at Erasmus University Rotterdam. A student of Bernard Stiegler, he is known for his writings on philosophy and technology, including On the Existence of Digital Objects (2106); The Question Concerning Technology in China (2017); Recursivity and Contingency (2019); Art and Cosmotechnics (2021); and most recently Post-Europe (2024) and Machine and Sovereignty (2024). His works have been translated into multiple global languages.