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The End of the Virtual? A Hermeneutical Approach to Digitality

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Conceiving Virtuality: From Art To Technology

Part of the book series: Numanities - Arts and Humanities in Progress ((NAHP,volume 11))

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to offer the grounds for a double rehabilitation: that of hermeneutics on the one hand, and of the virtual, a concept that became popular especially between the 1980s and 1990, on the other hand. More precisely, hermeneutics will be used to lay foundations for the hypothesis according to which the virtual never ended. The argument will follow three steps. In the first section, the author accounts for theories on the end of the virtual, distinguishing between those who think that the real has invaded the virtual and those who say that it is rather the opposite. The second section, entitled “The Virtual Never Ended”, is a tribute to Philip K. Dick and his crazy idea that the Roman Empire never came to an end. The digital works through representational distanciation and performative appropriation, and it is precisely this process that makes the virtual a valid concept that still gives rise to thought, and which allows hermeneutics to be used in the context of digitality. Finally, in the concluding section, the author will briefly present the epistemological and ontological advantages of such a perspective.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Interestingly enough, Law (2009) has presented ANT as a “material semiotics”. The use of the term “material hermeneutics” in the specific context of digital technologies can be found, for instance, in Rastier and Bachimont (1998).

  2. 2.

    To say the truth, Verbeek (2005: 161–168) has demonstrated that postphenomenology and ANT can enrich each other. ANT is focused on the multiplicity of the relations, while postphenomenology is interested in their depth. Furthermore, Latour (2013) has recently criticized some exaggerations of ANT.

  3. 3.

    It is noteworthy how Verbeek (2013: 51–54) has misunderstood Latour’s notion of mediation. For Latour (1994), indeed, of the four forms of mediations he presents—translation, composition, reversible blackboxing and delegation—the latter in certainly the most important. In delegation, techniques do not properly mediate a present human action; they rather work in the absence of those who wanted, created and installed them. One could say that they still represent human intentions, since the term “delegate” means precisely “representative”, “deputy”, “emissary”. But one could even argue that they are henceforth “un-tied” from those intentions. Through a process of emergence, there is then a shift from mere mediation to autonomy; it is precisely such an autonomy that Verbeek refuses to recognize, partially against Latour, to the technologies (Floridi and Sanders 2004).

  4. 4.

    See “LICRA contre Yahoo!”, https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/LICRA_contre_Yahoo. Accessed 15 June 2017.

  5. 5.

    https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/sites/digital-agenda/files/Manifesto.pdf. Accessed 20 June 2017. The Manifesto has been originally edited by Floridi for Springer. An extended version of the Manifesto, with further analysis and comments, is freely available at https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-3-319-04093-6.

  6. 6.

    In the first volume of Time and Narrative, Ricoeur has criticized quantitative history and its use of databases, computers, and information theory. According to him, quantitative history should be understood as a methodological detour, whose aim is to bring to an extension of our collective living memories.

  7. 7.

    https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89ditorialisation. Accessed 15 June 2017.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lille Catholic University, Lille, France

    Alberto Romele

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  1. Alberto Romele
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Correspondence to Alberto Romele .

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  1. Departamento de Filosofia, Comunicação e Informação, Instituto de Estudos Filosóficos, Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Joaquim Braga

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Romele, A. (2019). The End of the Virtual? A Hermeneutical Approach to Digitality. In: Braga, J. (eds) Conceiving Virtuality: From Art To Technology. Numanities - Arts and Humanities in Progress, vol 11. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24751-5_11

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