BIO
Albert Piacente has taught at several colleges and universities in the New York area, and is currently a Clinical Associate Professor in New York University’s Liberal Studies. The author of two books and numerous articles, his areas of interest range from pragmatism to identity, ethics, and political philosophy to the philosophy of sport.
TITLE
“Is Posthumanism post-intentional?”
ABSTRACT
Since at least the time of Aristotle, the mental has been the mark of the human. Since at least the time of Brentano, the intentional has been the mark of the mental. Given Posthumanism is post-human, does that make Posthumanism post-intentional? In this presentation I will explore this question first by relating Posthumanism to what I term “the twilight of intentionality” (i.e. the declining role of intentionality in the sciences). With that done, I will then argue that if Posthumanism is post-intentional, Posthumanism must commit to one of the following three: 1) extending the twilight of intentionality fully thereby entirely eliminating intentionality from our understanding of the world (e.g. eliminative materialism); 2) reversing the twilight of intentionality through the extension of intentionality to many “non-human” realms traditionally thought beyond intentionality (e.g. animals, machines); 3) seeing intentionality pragmatically hence denying intentionality is a fundamental ontological category (e.g. the intentional stance). The remainder of the presentation will then be taken up with making the case that Posthumanism should be post-intentional, and it should be in keeping with 3). Rather than embroiling Posthumanism in the inevitable epistemological and ontological quandaries that either 1) or 2) would bring, 3) would permit Posthumanism to embrace a pragmatic outlook, indeed a pragmatic metaphilosophy, one such as that being defended by “third wave” pragmatists like Heatherington, Koopman, Solymsi and Shook. And in the process, Posthumanism would achieve the post-metaphysical and in fact post-philosophical in the way that post-modernism strove to achieve but never did.
EVENT
NYU Global Posthuman 2020
Albert Piacente has taught at several colleges and universities in the New York area, and is currently a Clinical Associate Professor in New York University’s Liberal Studies. The author of two books and numerous articles, his areas of interest range from pragmatism to identity, ethics, and political philosophy to the philosophy of sport.
TITLE
“Is Posthumanism post-intentional?”
ABSTRACT
Since at least the time of Aristotle, the mental has been the mark of the human. Since at least the time of Brentano, the intentional has been the mark of the mental. Given Posthumanism is post-human, does that make Posthumanism post-intentional? In this presentation I will explore this question first by relating Posthumanism to what I term “the twilight of intentionality” (i.e. the declining role of intentionality in the sciences). With that done, I will then argue that if Posthumanism is post-intentional, Posthumanism must commit to one of the following three: 1) extending the twilight of intentionality fully thereby entirely eliminating intentionality from our understanding of the world (e.g. eliminative materialism); 2) reversing the twilight of intentionality through the extension of intentionality to many “non-human” realms traditionally thought beyond intentionality (e.g. animals, machines); 3) seeing intentionality pragmatically hence denying intentionality is a fundamental ontological category (e.g. the intentional stance). The remainder of the presentation will then be taken up with making the case that Posthumanism should be post-intentional, and it should be in keeping with 3). Rather than embroiling Posthumanism in the inevitable epistemological and ontological quandaries that either 1) or 2) would bring, 3) would permit Posthumanism to embrace a pragmatic outlook, indeed a pragmatic metaphilosophy, one such as that being defended by “third wave” pragmatists like Heatherington, Koopman, Solymsi and Shook. And in the process, Posthumanism would achieve the post-metaphysical and in fact post-philosophical in the way that post-modernism strove to achieve but never did.
EVENT
NYU Global Posthuman 2020
