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Of dramatology: Action in the form of tools and machines (Wiener, Plato, Aristotle, Latour, Shakespeare, Bacon)

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Abstract

This article examines Norbert Wiener's notions about self-reproducing machines in his work on cybernetic systems; it then compares Wiener's arguments to classical discussions of tools and instruments, with particular reference to Plato and Aristotle. The article argues that all three writers provide a way of thinking about the category of ‘action’ in ‘posthuman’ terms: they offer examples of a mode of artificial, performative action that has been dissociated from subjects and persons and that flourishes in technology, in theater, and in the philosophy of science. The article closes by briefly considering how this model of posthuman action might help us understand two areas in early modern writing: the drama of Shakespeare and the philosophy of Francis Bacon.

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Notes

  1. All citation of Plato's Cratylus are from the Loeb Classical Library edition (1939), edited by H.N. Fowler, by section number.

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of English, Rutgers University, New Brunswick

    Henry S Turner

Authors
  1. Henry S Turner
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Turner, H. Of dramatology: Action in the form of tools and machines (Wiener, Plato, Aristotle, Latour, Shakespeare, Bacon). Postmedieval 1, 199–207 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1057/pmed.2010.25

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/pmed.2010.25

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