European University Institute Library

On the existence of digital objects, Yuk Hui ; foreword by Bernard Stiegler

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 279-294) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

On the existence of digital objects

bibliography

905801716

Yuk Hui ; foreword by Bernard Stiegler

Electronic mediations, 48

Digital objects, in their simplest form, are data. They are also a new kind of industrial object that pervades every aspect of our life today<U+0127> as online videos, images, text files, e-mails, blog posts, Facebook events.Yet, despite their ubiquity, the nature of digital objects remains unclear. On the Existence of Digital Objects conducts a philosophical examination of digital objects and their organizing schema by creating a dialogue between Martin Heidegger and Gilbert Simondon, which Yuk Hui contextualizes within the history of computing. How can digital objects be understood according to individualization and individuation? Hui pursues this question through the history of ontology and the study of markup languages and Web ontologies; he investigates the existential structure of digital objects within their systems and milieux. With this relational approach toward digital objects and technical systems, the book addresses alienation, described by Simondon as the consequence of mistakenly viewing technics in opposition to culture. Interdisciplinary in philosophical and technical insights, with close readings of Husserl, Heidegger, and Simondon as well as the history of computing and the Web, Hui's work develops an original, productive way of thinking about the data and metadata that increasingly define our world.--, Provided by Publisher

Introduction outline of an investigation on digital objects -- Objects. The genesis of digital objects -- Digital objects and ontologies -- Relations. The space of networks -- The time of technical systems -- Logics. Logic and object -- Logic and time