Ghostly Bodies and Dreaming Machines: The Question Concerning Technology and Ontology
“I am a life-form that was born in the sea of information.”
– The Puppet Master, from Ghost in the Shell
As breakthroughs in cybernetics, medical technology and computer science continuously expand the scope of our bodily and mental presence, the question of being presses us with an ever greater urgency. How do we define and know who we are, and how does one certify his or her own existence, in an age when mechanical augmentation, extension, or even replacement of the body is a realistic venture, and the properties of the human mind can be reproduced, preserved, and emulated in the form of digital code? If the human body and its internal mechanism can be compatible with that of machines, and self-evolving machines can interact with or even replace humans in their cognitive capacity, what does being human involve, and mean? This course explores literary and critical works that represent, reflect on and inspire ontological discourses within the context of technological progress. Course materials will include: short stories and novels by Isaac Asimov, Mary Shelley, Philip K. Dick, William Gibson, Murakami Haruki and Neal Stephenson; films and TV productions by Ridley Scott (Blade Runner), Oshii Mamoru (Ghost in the Shell), and Joss Whedon (Dollhouse); digital literature (Patchwork Girl); graphic narrative (We3); and critical/theoretical reflections or scientific inquiries by René Descartes, Donna Haraway, Martin Heidegger, Nick Sousanis, and Jean Baudrillard.