Material for thought » philosophy

Post-modernism, skyscrapers and non-places

Christophe Bruchansky — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 18:49:51 +0000

Check out my conversation with Kati Blom on the website of the International Society for the Philosophy of Architecture. It follows a philosophical paper I published last year on the appropriation of space.

“The objective of I S P A is to promote rigorous philosophical engagement with the subject of architecture by providing an informal platform for parties interested in furthering the cause.” Excellent initiative indeed!

Local and mobile capital

Christophe Bruchansky — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 11:29:05 +0000

A letter that I wrote few months ago about local and mobile capital has been published in the issue 232 of the “Design, Architecture, Ideas” Ottagono magazine. The letter introduces very briefly the Marxist geography terms that I discovered during my philosophical investigations on the concept of place. The magazine is in Italian and English.

The Ryoan-ji garden in Kyoto

Christophe Bruchansky — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 17:21:50 +0000

Japan is full of beautiful gardens, but none of them impressed me as much as the Ryoan-ji garden in Kyoto. The best is to visit the Zen garden early in the morning before the other tourists come in, and to be alone in front of the masterpiece. The garden itself is small and very simple, but once you have seen it, all other gardens seem gimmicky and missing the essential. Many books have been published about this garden, but one specific aspect that struck me is its relation with the outside. The walled garden is actually within a bigger garden, and even though you cannot see it from the inside, you can hear it and see the branches of the trees. I would even say that the best way to enjoy the outside garden is from the Ryoan-ji garden. It is the essence of any garden, offering a window to the outside world, a meaningful perspective.

The garden

The trees outside the garden.

General System Theory – Ludwig von Bertalanffy

Christophe Bruchansky — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 03:21:45 +0000

List of system theories as enumerated by Ludwig von Bertalanffy in “General System Theory” (1968):

Classical system theory, basically maths.
Computerization and simulation using models.
Compartment theory: “the system consists in subunits with certain boundary conditions between which transport process takes place”.
Set theory, which studies general formal properties of systems.
Graph theory concerned with topological space.
Net theory, a generalisation of sequences (http://en.allexperts.com/e/n/ne/net_(mathematics).htm).
Cybernetics: “A theory of control systems based on communication (transfer of information) between system and environment and within the system, and control (feedback) of the system’s function in regard to environment.”
Information theory “is based on the concept of information, defined by an expression isomorphic to negative entropy of thermodynamics”.
Theory of automata (i.e. abstract machine – Turing machine 1936).
Game theory which studies systems animated by rational players.
Decision theory: maths about choices over alternatives.
Queuing theory: optimization of arrangements under conditions of crowding.

Fantasy and thought

Christophe Bruchansky — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 14:53:38 +0000

According to the psychologist Jean Pieget, “young children do have a lot of fantasy in thought. They may imagine that they are magically affecting things. And they have to learn to distinguish certain ‘fantasies’ which are to be called ‘reality’, namely the ones that pass the tests of reality”:

that stand up the experience of reality
that everybody sees
that resist being pushed
that are not affected by how you think about them
…

Read in “Thought as a System” by David Bohm – 1992.

Publication: The Heterotopia of Disney World

Christophe Bruchansky — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:17:10 +0000

An article summarising the Heterotopia of Walt Disney World presentation that I gave in October 2009 is now published in the February edition of the Philosophy Now magazine. The article is part of a series of papers about ‘continental tales’ and the concept of narrative in Continental philosophy.

Thanks to the team of the Philosophy Now magazine for having kindly accepted to publish my paper and for their extremely professional proofreading!

Long term influence of consumer researches on cultural analysis

Christophe Bruchansky — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:17:45 +0000

In recent researches I have made about Ethnography, I read that it is important to “recognize the human capacity to spin, twist, turn, invent, tangle, tear and live by, through, and between symbolic meanings” [Doing Anthropology in Consumer Research by Patricia L. Sunderland and Rita M. Denny]. Cultural symbols and signs used in things such as language, media and advertisement are dynamic, in constant negotiation. We would be merely executors of cultural conventions if we didn’t constantly alter, reassemble cultural symbols and practices at our own convenience. Yet, they are the only means by which we can comprehend this world and communicate our thoughts. We are thus living a paradoxical relationship with culture, at the same time restrictive and liberating.

What is the role of corporations and consumer research in this relationship? Consumer research is culturally agnostic, it doesn’t defend anything else than the interests of its commissioners, that is their financial return on investment, most often achieved by pleasing their customers. It is these customers who are arbitrating on cultural symbols and practices, not corporations that are merely playing with cultural meanings at their own risk. The book Ethnography for marketers (a guide to consumer immersion, by Hy Mariampolski) defines the techniques now widely applied in corporations to better understand their customers. Better the customers are understood, better the services they get, better are also the intangible benefits they get from brands and marketing campaigns (such as being able to identify with a brand, use it as a symbol of belonging to a group). But as I explained in a recent lecture about the heterotopia of Walt Disney World, the risk is that cultural assets valuable in the mediation of our reality, but less attractive for brands, could slowly fade away in the profit of less effective meaning systems, more in tune with consumerism and manufactured consumer lifestyles. By observing customers instead of people, customer researches are influencing our perception of existence. It is a little like quantum theory, you cannot observe something in culture without influencing it. The issue is not commerce and its consumer persona, but the lack of other narrative forces. Or maybe even worst, it is the incapacity to recognize the significance of other systems of meaning simultaneously at play in our lives.

: Shopping in New York a few years ago

Factory farming

Christophe Bruchansky — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 12:16:01 +0000

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Pain-free animals could take suffering out of farming, NewScientist

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Our daily bread documentary.

Welcome to the world of industrial food production and high-tech farming!

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Is this post about art, innovation, governance or philosophy? I let you decide…

Capitalism and political philosophy in debate at two international events

Christophe Bruchansky — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:23:59 +0000

Two unique events about political philosophy are starting this September: The Paris freedom fest 2009 (mostly in English with some lectures in French) and the Philo and Management 2009 – 2010 seminars in Brussels (French only). Even if the two events are based on very different approaches and might actually follow two opposite directions, they both attempt to open the debate between philosophers and economists. They investigate what are the options for our future and what kind of governance shift might happen in the coming years.

The Paris freedom fest will take a libertarian view at themes such as “Business cycle theories: capitalism versus interventionism” [Olga Peniaz], “The ethics and economics of tax heavens” [Guillaume Vuillemey], “Towards a New Theory of the State; what comes after welfare” [James Panton]. The Philo and Management 2009 – 2010 seminars seem more neutral and will investigate “What will be the management of the post-capitalistic society?” through questions such as “Competition: only motor for efficiency and wealth?”, “Is democracy in a business environment possible?” (speakers including Pierre Gurdjian, Pierre Dardot and Isabelle Ferreras).

Having spoken to the two organisers, I have no doubt about their genuine approach and their commitment to achieve something new. Is it a broader movement? Is it time for some serious reflection?

Entretien avec Pierre Dardot et Christian Laval 1 (video in French):

Entretien avec Pierre Dardot et Christian Laval 1
by Mediapart

What happened to the European ideal?

Christophe Bruchansky — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:30:13 +0000

After this shameful European election 2009, emptied of any ambition and monopolized by national self absorption, the important question is: What happened to the European ideal?

The exhibition ‘Dreams of Progress’ held in July at the Westminster Reference Library is looking at our past ideals. I’m curating the exhibition and I am reading a lot of books related to the subject of Progress. We don’t fully realize today how the idea of a European Union was one of the most important ideal of the 20^th century. People suffered of centuries of wars in Europe, tried so many times to stop what seemed an inexorable repetition of bloody confrontations. Not long after the First and the Second World wars, what has probably been the lowest point of history, came the most ambitious project, the only one that could cure Europe for good, the European Union. We take now for granted peace in Europe. It appears so fundamental and natural. The project of the European Union has not been built by romantic people bored in their bourgeois living rooms. It has been made by necessity. The real ideal behind the euro is not to make international corporations richer, it is that commerce between nations prevent them from going to war. Democracy and freedom is not so much about individualistic rhetoric, but is an effective way to prevent a country’s elite to declare war without a real necessity for its population. The point is that all of this is working! After centuries of blood, we have now found a way to prevent war. It has not been easy to force nations to cooperate, especially the nations, or should I say the past Empires, of Europe. So, after generations of people painfully building this great project, what is our vision?

In his book “The Divided West”, Jürgen Habermas defines the following identity founding characteristics of Europe:

Commitment to peace as a result of the historical experience of loss
Social privatization of faith: The only way for Europe to escape war is the strict separation between nations and religions. For those who don’t understand why, look at the history.
The priority of the state to the market: free market is perceived more as a mean for social wealth than as an end by itself. States embody the more important concepts of citizenship, justice and freedom.
The primacy of social solidarity over “merit”, inherited from labour movement and Christian social thought.
Sensitivity for violations of personal and bodily integrity (e.g. rejection of death penalty)
Reflexive distance toward nationalism, resulting from the growing distance from imperial domination and colonialism
Awareness of the paradoxes of progress. Europe has a rich history of traditions. ‘Progress’ resulted in the extinction of many traditions, some being more beneficial than what they have been replaced with. There is thus this awareness among Europeans that technological progress doesn’t always mean better living.

As it is explained in this article from Le Monde (in French), the young French generation is naturally European. I assume it is also the case for all young generations in Europe. It’s culture is European, it constantly travels across Europe and makes connections way beyond the borders of nations. The identity characteristics listed above are I think shared by most European citizens. I believe in them. But what I saw this weekend is a lazy, spoiled, old and selfish continent. What is your opinion?