Being Human on Technologised Earth. Stieglerian Thoughts

Seeking to answer the question of what it means to be human on a technologised Earth that seems to be defying or even striking back at humans, this paper builds on Bernard Stiegler’s analysis of the Anthropocene, based on his theories of general organology and pharmacology. After presenting Stiegler’s conceptualisation of the Anthropocene as the Entropocene, and briefly describing his philosophical anthropology, including his call for neg-anthropology, the paper focuses on technology as the infrastructure of the human way of life. This infrastructure is analysed not only in relation to humans, but also - in the form of technosphere - to biosphere as a whole. Zooming in on humans as technological beings, the paper demonstrates that we and our technology do not have to be detrimental or toxic to Earth. As technological beings who are capable of shame and of distinguishing between good and bad, we are capable of caring, and this care can extend to other earthly processes. This document is a preprint. The final version will be published in: Technophany, A Journal for Philosophy and Technology