Author picture

Mark C. Taylor

Author of Critical Terms for Religious Studies

33 Works 1,283 Members 7 Reviews 3 Favorited

About the Author

Mark C. Taylor is professor of religion at Columbia University and the Cluett Professor of Humanities Emeritus at Williams College. He is the founding editor of the Religion and Postmodernism series published by the University of Chicago Press and is the author of many books, including Abiding show more Grace: Time, Modernity, Death. show less

Includes the name: Mark C. Taylor

Works by Mark C. Taylor

After God (2007) 71 copies
Grave Matters (2002) 50 copies
Altarity (1987) 49 copies
Hiding (1997) 49 copies

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Members

Reviews

Intervolution: Smart Bodies Smart Things by Mark C Taylor is a volume (the first?) in the No Limits series. Going from Hegel and Kant through Kierkegaard and Heidegger to artificial intelligence and the Singularity Taylor discusses where our being and our environment meet and join.

Using his diabetes and reliance on an insulin pump as a jumping point to consider what exactly constitutes his body and/or whether the pump is part of him or simply attached. While he mentions Katherine Hayles he references an early article she wrote, but I think some of her thinking in her recent book Postprint would be useful here, primarily her concept of a cognitive assemblage. Much of what Taylor discusses here would fit into that category.

He uses the ideas of an intranet of the body, the internet of things, and the internet of the bodies to guide his thinking. This works quite well and makes many of his connections flow very well. When he gets to the area of AI and the potential Singularity, he mentions comparisons to Frankenstein, which brought to mind another recent book, Artificial Life After Frankenstein by Eileen Hunt Botting. She also addresses concerns about AI and Singularity. Where she used fictional works (political science fiction) Taylor primarily used philosophical works, yet many of the ideas were in line with each other.

While Taylor's reliance on an insulin pump presents a much clearer image of the blurring of distinction between biological and technological entities he cites many examples of ways in which we function largely as part of multiple cognitive assemblages. In other words, we are already all cyborgs. His use of Hegel to show that even then, within philosophy, the idea existed that we are made up of networks, thus his overall structure of intranet of the body, the internet of things, and the internet of bodies.

Although not directly related to the main point(s) of this book, Taylor's ideas made me think about the way we tend to think in dichotomies. He mentions some of the ones most common, body/mind, etc. I couldn't help but think about whether these dichotomies would be better thought of as complements. While different, and often seemingly in opposition, they also work together to form the whole, to make understanding of either possible. Without light it is hard to consider darkness, without health it is hard to understand disease, and so on. But anyway...

I would recommend this to anyone who might be interested in looking at how, both philosophically and technologically, our concepts of self, body, and cognition are changing. The writing is accessible though I would recommend taking it slow so you can consider his ideas and connections thoroughly.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
… (more)
 
Flagged
pomo58 | Sep 20, 2020 |
I first read this book back in 1996 when it was relatively new and was really pretty groundbreaking. Re-reading it in 2018 it feels quite dated, the internet has come a long way since then! But it's still fascinating. The book is an interesting scrapbook type design with soundbites and short essays on internet and media philosophy. My favourite bits though are the emails between the 2 authors, grappling with technical problems in setting up video conferencing and international phone lines without the cost being prohibitive, and discussing the way their students use email. I just found it made me feel quite unnerved by how much we take for granted now that is really very recent.… (more)
 
Flagged
AlisonSakai | 1 other review | Oct 8, 2018 |
Drawing from developments in such diverse religion, philosophy, art, education, technology, fashion, and finance, Taylor offers a thoughtful, richly layered examination of the negative impact our obsession with speed has upon culture and society.
 
Flagged
Sullywriter | May 22, 2015 |
Lazy book and arguments by a bold teacher and philosopher.....
 
Flagged
lincolnpan | Dec 31, 2014 |

Lists

Awards

You May Also Like

Associated Authors

Statistics

Works
33
Members
1,283
Popularity
#19,990
Rating
½ 3.4
Reviews
7
ISBNs
85
Languages
3
Favorited
3

Charts & Graphs