Passions of the Internet and the Art of Living

1. Passions of the Internet and the Art of Living Rafael Capurro Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences www.capurro.de

2. Contents Introduction I. Passions of the Internet II. Passions in the Internet III. Information Technologies and Technologies of the Self Conclusion

3. I. Passions of the Internet • Pekka Himanen: • „A Brief History of Hackerism“ • „The Hacker Ethic“ • Hacker ethic‘s driving value • Hacker ethic is passionate Platonic • Hacker ethic is the opposite to the kind of ascetic work ethics (Max Weber)

4. II. Passions in the Internet • John Perry Barlow: „not where our bodies live“ • Bernd Frohmann‘s criticism • Messages and messengers • Mediatic nihilism? • The „call syndrome“ • „Grand est le manger“ (Rabbi Yohanan)

5. III. Information Technology and Technologies of the Self • Michel Foucault‘s technologies: • of production • of sign systems • of power • of the self • Living forms and living norms • Lévinas‘ „face-to-face“

6. III. Information... • The Art of Friendship in the Face of Power • The Art of Choosing in the Face of Oppression • The Art of Silence in the Face of Verbosity • The Art of Laughter in the Face of Fear

7. Conclusion • Humanism, naturalism, and technicism • How can we ensure that the benefits of information technology are not only distributed equitably, but that they can also be used by people to shape their own lives? • The technologies of the self are an essential part of the answer to this question.