We Have Never Been Human

Theories of the limits of human life might begin by analyzing politico-ethical treatments of human beings, or by questioning the bases for distinctions between species. This course will argue that what remains consistently underexamined in such approaches is the human relation to technicity, leaving us ill-equipped to respond to challenges such as AI. By examining the thinking of mostly French philosophers and writers (e.g. Antelme, Blanchot, Bataille, Deleuze, Derrida, Duras, Foucault, Sartre, Simondon, Stiegler) we will attempt to understand first the coming-into-crisis of humanism, and second, different perspectives that emerge as a result of conceiving the human as originarily technological. Course will be conducted in English. FFS students in will read texts in French where appropriate, and write assignments in French.