Being and Not Being
eBook - ePub

Being and Not Being

End Times of Posthumanism and the Future Undoing of Philosophy

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Being and Not Being

End Times of Posthumanism and the Future Undoing of Philosophy

About this book

Against the grain of many contemporary theoretical positions that indulge in delusions of safety and certainty, Being and Not Being argues that contingency is definitive of the structure of being itself. As a result, any predictions about the future founded upon present or habitual states of being are necessarily subject to possible error given the unpredictability that is the condition of all emergent forms of being. Rather than signal the absenceof an ethical dimension, this prior inscription of potential, which gives rise to profoundly unforeseen forms of being, necessarily invokes an a priori ethical demand that is common to biological and technological systems alike. This ethical demand transforms the 'rules' of critical and ethical engagement not simply with other, 'inhuman' forms of being, but with the future itself. Indeed, this ethical demand requires us to pose serious questions about the legitimacy and usefulness of any decisions made today on the back of predicted futures that erroneously presume the absolute determinability of all beings lacking the alchemical privilege definitive of life. As the exemplary figure of unfounded privilege, it is with Hamlet that the question of life ultimately ends, replaced instead by the extremophile as the figure of unforeseen futures that simply cannot be imagined in the present. To be is the potential to be otherwise, that is to say, to not be that which a given being is.

Frequently asked questions

Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription.
At the moment all of our mobile-responsive ePub books are available to download via the app. Most of our PDFs are also available to download and we're working on making the final remaining ones downloadable now. Learn more here.
Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete
  • Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
  • Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
Both plans are available with monthly, semester, or annual billing cycles.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS or Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access Being and Not Being by Richard Iveson in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Philosophy & Deconstruction in Philosophy. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Half Title
  3. Dedication
  4. Contents
  5. Acknowledgements
  6. Introduction: Relative Reason
  7. Chapter 1: Ends of Life: Death of Socrates
  8. Chapter 2: Ends of Nature: The Question Concerning Posthuman Technology
  9. Chapter 3: Ends of the Future: Contingency and the Life of Machines
  10. Chapter 4: Ends of Thought: Mad Times, Hyper-Chaos and Difference More Radical Than Différance
  11. Chapter 5: End Times: Physics and Ignorance
  12. Conclusion: Ends and Endings: Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse
  13. Notes
  14. References
  15. About the Author