The Politics Of Digital Pharmacology: Exploring The Craft Of Collective Care

127 Pages·2022·0.806 MB·English

by  Felix Heidenreich, Florian Weber-Stein

Felix Heidenreich, Florian Weber-Stein
The Politics of Digital Pharmacology
Political Science | Volume 135
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Felix Heidenreich is a philosopher and political scientist teaching at
Universität Stuttgart. Among his publications are textbooks on political
theory and contributions on Foucault and Blumenberg.
Florian Weber-Stein is a professor of political science and political edu-
cation at Pädagogische Hochschule Ludwigsburg. His research inter-
ests include democratic theory and data literacy.
Felix Heidenreich, Florian Weber-Stein
The Politics of Digital Pharmacology
Exploring the Craft of Collective Care
The joint project “KOALA - Building and expanding cooperation in all
teaching subjects” is funded by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of
Science, Research and the Arts as part of the “Teacher Training in Ba-
den-Württemberg” funding program.
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First published in 2022 by transcript Verlag, Bielefeld
© Felix Heidenreich, Florian Weber-Stein
Cover layout: Maria Arndt, Bielefeld
Cover illustration: "South Bank Circle", 1991. © Richard Long. Photo: Tate
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Printed on permanent acid-free text paper.
Contents
Foreword.................................................................7
Part I: Towards a Cura Publica
Chapter1:IntroducingPharmacology ..................................11
1.1 Thedigitalonslaught:somebasicconsiderations ...................11
1.2 Metaphors/analogies/comparisons:
approaches to the conceptof “pharmacology”.......................15
Chapter2:PharmacologyontheThresholdofModernity:Rousseau . 25
2.1 Illnessassocialpathology......................................... 25
2.2 Rousseauandthegenesisofmodernself-medication...............31
2.3 Homeopathicself-medication:self-education through writing?..... 37
2.4 Cultureasahomeopathicremedy:civic education
through the theater?................................................41
2.5 ThelimitsofhomeopathyinRousseau............................. 46
Chapter3:DigitalPharmacology:Stiegler..............................51
3.1 GoingbeyondRousseauwithRousseau..............................51
3.2 DigitalGrammatizationIor:fromthe‘readingbrain’
to the‘twitterbrain’................................................ 57
3.3 DigitalGrammatizationIIor:friendship in the ‘digital anthill’........60
3.4 DigitalGrammatizationIIIor:the alphabetization
of imageconsciousness...........................................63
Chapter4:ExploringtheLimitsofPharmacology..................... 67
4.1 Homeopathic,allopathic,andheteropathicpharmacology .......... 67
4.2 Howtodopoliticalpharmacology:‘liberal’ or ‘republican’ ........... 70
4.3 Thetoolboxofdigitalpharmacology ............................... 72
4.4 Acommunityoflearningcitizens:towards a cura publica...........80
Part II: An Interview with Bernard Stiegler
BernardStiegler:ElementsofPharmacology
AninterviewwithFelixHeidenreichandFlorian Weber-Stein.............85
Concept,analogy,metaphor,art ...................................85
Noontologyofpharmaka,butsavoir-faire...........................91
Thesubjectofpharmacology:auto-therapy........................ 95
Thewritingselfandthedigitalself ................................98
Aschoolofpharmacology ..........................................111
Bibliography ...........................................................117
WorksbyBernardStiegler .........................................117
Othercitedworks .................................................118
Foreword
AfewmonthsbeforeBernardStieglercametoStuttgartinJanuary
2020,heagreedtodoaninterviewfocusingontheconceptofdig-
italpharmacology.WefinallymetintheearlyafternoonofJanuary
20th inthelobbyofhishotelnearthePublicLibraryofStuttgart,
wherehiskey-notelecturewastotakeplaceintheevening.Wehad
plannedtotalkforaboutanhouratthemost,tomakesurethathe
wouldhavethetimetoconcentratebeforetheeveningevent.Some
threehourslaterwewerestillindeepconversation.Havingtotally
losttrackoftime,wesuddenlyneededtoendourtalkandhurryto
thelibrarysoasnottobelatefortheevent.Evenafterthepublic
lecture,ourconversationwasresumedinanearbyrestaurant.
BernardStiegler’senergyandpassioncontinuedtofascinateus
whenwetalkedtohimviatheinternetwhileworkingontheinter-
view.Inthesummerof2020,wehadjustsenthimatranscriptof
ourlongconversationwhenthenewsofhisdeatharrived.Wewere
shocked.Hisdeathcamecompletelyunexpectedly,althoughhehad
toldushewassufferingfromasevereillness.
Wearethankfulthatwehadthechancetogettoknowhimper-
sonally.Aswecontinuedtoworkonthisbook,hisvoiceechoedin
ourminds.Itisraretomeetaphilosopherwhoissocompletelyded-
icatedtohiswork,sofocusedonintellectualendeavorandstillso
friendly,sowelcomingandsogenerous.Weweredeeplyimpressed
byhispersonalblendofseriousnessandoutstandingcreativity,a
rarecombination.Wehopethatthisbookwillpassontheenergy
weexperiencedinBernardStiegler.Wewouldalsoliketothankhis
daughterBarbaraStieglerforallowingustopublishtheinterview.
8 ThePoliticsofDigitalPharmacology
ThisbookisaresultofaprojectfundedbytheProfessionalSchool
ofEducation(PSE)inStuttgartandLudwigsburg,organizedandcar-
riedoutbytheInternationalCenterforCulturalandTechnologicalStud-
ies(IZKT)oftheUniversityofStuttgarttogetherwiththeUniversity
ofEducationinLudwigsburg.WewouldliketothankthePSEforthe
support.
FelixHeidenreich&FlorianWeber-Stein,StuttgartandLudwigsburg
Part I: Towards a Cura Publica