Books by Alexander I . Stingl
An account of the genealogy of a particular style of reasoning, the biological vernacular. I was ... more An account of the genealogy of a particular style of reasoning, the biological vernacular. I was using a combination of discourse analysis, constellation research and latent meaning analysis to analyse a specific truth regime or assembly of knowledge production. I showed that the physiological sciences in the 18th and 19th century entered several conceptual crises. New developments and discoveries had rendered the existing theoretical languages and social epistemologies inefficient to cope with experimental progress. In the epistemology of Immanuel Kant, biology found a theoretical language that could help overcome these boundaries. In the latter half of the 19th century, psychology and physiology began to drift apart and it was in this critical phase that the language of the “social” emerged between Ralph W. Emerson, Rudolf Hermann Lotze, William James, Alexander Meiklejohn and others. They spoke a scientific dialect or epistemological vernacular that emerged from Kantianism in the form of the teleomechanist program and the romantic movement in biology, experimental psychology, and, eventually, industrial physiology. In Germany and France in the late 19th and early 20th century, Max Weber, Georg Simmel, and Emile Durkheim worked within an equivalent vernacular. Their theory-building was a result of the semantic perquisites the teleomechanist program and its style of reasoning. In the 1930s, the social sciences entered into another form of crisis: There were as many sociologies and as many theoretical languages as there were individual sociologists. Talcott Parsons became the most prominent of a group of scholars who made the effort of working on a common language to solve this problem. My conclusion shows that as an enunciation system, Talcott Parsons’ theoretical language has its origin in the biological vernacular. Parsons, in this account, was not a creative genius behind a grand theory. Instead, he was enabled by the discourse towards enunciating ideas that were supposed to be translatable. They were formed in the same vernacular. At the same time, Parsons’ discourse was constrained by the politics of networks and institutions, which allowed only for a careful introduction of his ideas.
In den gegenwärtigen Verhältnissen liegt ein
Zwangspotential, dass uns als Subjekte hervorgebrach... more In den gegenwärtigen Verhältnissen liegt ein
Zwangspotential, dass uns als Subjekte hervorgebracht
hat und nur bedingt hintergehbar ist. Auf die Frage, Wie ist Kritik der Aufklärung,wie Kritik und wie
Aufklärung heute möglich? , ist die Antwort der
Kritischen Theorie: Verborgen zu bleiben , während
man sich klar macht, dass man durch die Aufklärung
verblendet ist.
Hat man dies durchschaut, könne man lernen sich durch
verschwiegenen Nonkonformismus zu wehren.
Foucault antwortet in Anerkennung des Zwangspotentiales der historischen Aufklärung.
Diese gilt ihm als vergangenes Denksystem.
Genealogisch hinter sie zurückzugehend kann das
heutige Zwangssystem , seine Mechanismen und
Funktionsweisen offenlegen und helfen in unseren
Praktiken des Selbst ein wenig mehr an Autonomie zu
gewinnen und nicht dermaßen regiert zu werden.
Als Antwort also:
Es gibt zwei Wege der Kritik der Aufklärung heute.
Kritik zu üben, einzuüben und entweder versteckt
weiterzugeben und zu lehren als immanent-impliziten
Nonkonformismus, wie es Adorno und Horkheimer
vorschlagen, oder aber für sich und bei sich ein
wenig Autonomie genealogisch zu entdecken und
auszuleben, wie es Foucault vornimmt.
Papers by Alexander I . Stingl
Current Perspectives in Social Theory, 2014
ABSTRACT
Vergemeinschaftung in Zeiten der Zombie-Apokalypse, 2014
Symbolic Interaction, 2014
Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 2014
The American Sociologist, 2011
Abstract Starting with a distinction of two types of discourse analysisthe analysis of a discour... more Abstract Starting with a distinction of two types of discourse analysisthe analysis of a discourse and discursive analysisthe article discusses an analytical genealogy of truth and knowledge production, that can fulfill both empirical and archival requirements. The model's main ...
Starting with a distinction of two types of discourse analysis—the analysis of a discourse and di... more Starting with a distinction of two types of discourse analysis—the analysis of a discourse and discursive analysis—the article discusses an analytical genealogy of truth and knowledge production, that can fulfill both empirical and archival requirements. The model’s main purpose lies in understanding diagnostic and therapeutic decision-making in doctor–patient interactions. Historically, diagnostic and therapeutic discourses, in particular in “experimental medicine and medical theory”, used to be part of natural philosophy in the 18th and 19th century in the form of dietetics, respectively, psychosomatic medicine and medical semiotics, as well as proto-semiotic philosophy and proto-pragmatism did belong to the same discourses. Subsequently, pragmatic and semiotic social sciences should be enabled to invoke this conceptual legacy to build a bridge between contemporary medical practice and semiotic theories. In discussing the genealogical model in light of the discourse of Norbert Wiley and Margaret Archer, it will be made clear that the model, combined with a deeper understanding of the history of ideas, and a combination of archival and empirical attitude in research, is an effective tool for sociologists of knowledge and medicine.
Keywords:
Truth production – Knowledge regime – Discourse analysis – Semiotic self – Doctor–patient interactive decision-making – Norbert Wiley – Michel Foucualt – Pragmatist semiotics
The chapter explores the relation of Health and Environment from the general perspective of Scien... more The chapter explores the relation of Health and Environment from the general perspective of Science Studies. Science Studies are concerned with the history of science, society, medicine and technology as well as contemporary issues and applications of science. Science Studies utilize methodologies of sociology of
knowledge, philosophy of science, medical anthropology, and applied ethics. This chapter focuses on “health and environment”—-aspects in a genealogical analysis of the discursive production of the concept Attention and its implications as a public, medical and psychological problem. Attention itself is, however, a vague concept, despite its frequent use as a medical and psychological category. It has a two-hundred year history, beginning with Kantian psychology/biology. In psychology, it occupies different roles, and so do its
pathologies. Neuro-physiologically, “attention” is still a vague concept. Currently, it is assumed that there is a balance of different neurotransmitters that seems to play a role in the neurochemistry of attention. But while the concept itself is vague, doctors, parents, journalists, etc. use it in statements concerning normal and pathological forms of attention, as if it is self-evident and clear what attention and its pathologies are.
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Books by Alexander I . Stingl
Zwangspotential, dass uns als Subjekte hervorgebracht
hat und nur bedingt hintergehbar ist. Auf die Frage, Wie ist Kritik der Aufklärung,wie Kritik und wie
Aufklärung heute möglich? , ist die Antwort der
Kritischen Theorie: Verborgen zu bleiben , während
man sich klar macht, dass man durch die Aufklärung
verblendet ist.
Hat man dies durchschaut, könne man lernen sich durch
verschwiegenen Nonkonformismus zu wehren.
Foucault antwortet in Anerkennung des Zwangspotentiales der historischen Aufklärung.
Diese gilt ihm als vergangenes Denksystem.
Genealogisch hinter sie zurückzugehend kann das
heutige Zwangssystem , seine Mechanismen und
Funktionsweisen offenlegen und helfen in unseren
Praktiken des Selbst ein wenig mehr an Autonomie zu
gewinnen und nicht dermaßen regiert zu werden.
Als Antwort also:
Es gibt zwei Wege der Kritik der Aufklärung heute.
Kritik zu üben, einzuüben und entweder versteckt
weiterzugeben und zu lehren als immanent-impliziten
Nonkonformismus, wie es Adorno und Horkheimer
vorschlagen, oder aber für sich und bei sich ein
wenig Autonomie genealogisch zu entdecken und
auszuleben, wie es Foucault vornimmt.
Papers by Alexander I . Stingl
Keywords:
Truth production – Knowledge regime – Discourse analysis – Semiotic self – Doctor–patient interactive decision-making – Norbert Wiley – Michel Foucualt – Pragmatist semiotics
knowledge, philosophy of science, medical anthropology, and applied ethics. This chapter focuses on “health and environment”—-aspects in a genealogical analysis of the discursive production of the concept Attention and its implications as a public, medical and psychological problem. Attention itself is, however, a vague concept, despite its frequent use as a medical and psychological category. It has a two-hundred year history, beginning with Kantian psychology/biology. In psychology, it occupies different roles, and so do its
pathologies. Neuro-physiologically, “attention” is still a vague concept. Currently, it is assumed that there is a balance of different neurotransmitters that seems to play a role in the neurochemistry of attention. But while the concept itself is vague, doctors, parents, journalists, etc. use it in statements concerning normal and pathological forms of attention, as if it is self-evident and clear what attention and its pathologies are.
Zwangspotential, dass uns als Subjekte hervorgebracht
hat und nur bedingt hintergehbar ist. Auf die Frage, Wie ist Kritik der Aufklärung,wie Kritik und wie
Aufklärung heute möglich? , ist die Antwort der
Kritischen Theorie: Verborgen zu bleiben , während
man sich klar macht, dass man durch die Aufklärung
verblendet ist.
Hat man dies durchschaut, könne man lernen sich durch
verschwiegenen Nonkonformismus zu wehren.
Foucault antwortet in Anerkennung des Zwangspotentiales der historischen Aufklärung.
Diese gilt ihm als vergangenes Denksystem.
Genealogisch hinter sie zurückzugehend kann das
heutige Zwangssystem , seine Mechanismen und
Funktionsweisen offenlegen und helfen in unseren
Praktiken des Selbst ein wenig mehr an Autonomie zu
gewinnen und nicht dermaßen regiert zu werden.
Als Antwort also:
Es gibt zwei Wege der Kritik der Aufklärung heute.
Kritik zu üben, einzuüben und entweder versteckt
weiterzugeben und zu lehren als immanent-impliziten
Nonkonformismus, wie es Adorno und Horkheimer
vorschlagen, oder aber für sich und bei sich ein
wenig Autonomie genealogisch zu entdecken und
auszuleben, wie es Foucault vornimmt.
Keywords:
Truth production – Knowledge regime – Discourse analysis – Semiotic self – Doctor–patient interactive decision-making – Norbert Wiley – Michel Foucualt – Pragmatist semiotics
knowledge, philosophy of science, medical anthropology, and applied ethics. This chapter focuses on “health and environment”—-aspects in a genealogical analysis of the discursive production of the concept Attention and its implications as a public, medical and psychological problem. Attention itself is, however, a vague concept, despite its frequent use as a medical and psychological category. It has a two-hundred year history, beginning with Kantian psychology/biology. In psychology, it occupies different roles, and so do its
pathologies. Neuro-physiologically, “attention” is still a vague concept. Currently, it is assumed that there is a balance of different neurotransmitters that seems to play a role in the neurochemistry of attention. But while the concept itself is vague, doctors, parents, journalists, etc. use it in statements concerning normal and pathological forms of attention, as if it is self-evident and clear what attention and its pathologies are.
The “brain” sciences (neuro-/cognitive sciences) have a great effect on how we explain (and sometimes explain away) our everyday behavior. According to the media, more and more people suffer from mental health issues, depression, burnout, and brain-related health problems such as migraine. In criminal court, a perpetrator’s crimes are often judged with the input of experts on cognitive science. Crafty entrepreneurs attempt to understand the ways of the brain to better target ads and product placements. And even children have been known to justify naughty behavior by claiming that “my brain made me do it.”
The brain has become politicized: there is talk of “neuropolitics,” with certain researchers stating that even our vote is a matter of brain structures, and that there are such things as liberal and conservative brains. Clearly, then, neurosciences and cognitive sciences can be used to surveil and control our lives or to generate more autonomy. We need critical conversations that help us understand both the risks and opportunities presented by these fields. Led by keynote speaker Victoria Pitts-Taylor (Wesleyan University), this panel aims at starting exactly this kind of conversation.
The event is free and open to the public.
In this paper, I argue from a critically realistic perspective, to asses the potential that the concept of persuasive technology has in accounting for epistemic responsibility of those who are using imaging technology and images. Mindless acceptance and use of medical knowledge regimes and imaging technologies invigorates their persuasive power, in particular if patients, research subjects and citizens are empowered without enablement. The point is, respectively, not stop using medical images in doctor patient interactions or research practices but it must be made explicit even further than has been done so far, not just that we should not but also why we cannot take their use in diagnostic and therapeutic decision-making at face value, see for example with regard to trajectories of aging or intersex discourses. Practitioners in research and healing should be mindful about technologies (medical imaging) and their integration into their practice. A first step towards the realization of such a goal is for practitioners to understand how imaging technologies actually function as social actors, and, therefore, to accept that medical images are never entirely objective or innocent, and that subjects can only be considered empowered if they are truly enabled.
It is an open question if people with ADHD or who are deaf 'feel pain' as a mental state – not physically, for sure – when confronted with the effects of their 'disorders' (and I mean disorder here in the sense of experiencing oneself in interaction as 'out of the social order with what one's society fant'sies is normal'). Surely, we can imagine a parent may say something like “it must be painful not be able to hear the voice of a bird” or “it is painful to watch my son not making friends at school”, or “my daughter is in pain over the fact that no matter what, she can't get a good grade in maths”, etc.
Of course, nobody would confuse this to mean the same as “he feels the pain of the needle in his arm” or “she is in pain from the cramps”, and, of course, no philosopher, sociologist or psychologist would blindly assign the same spatio-temporal properties to these different conceptualizations of pain; however, it shows, at the same time, that a folk psychological point of view constructs the experience of what is more generally suffering on the basis of the experience of physical, somatic pain. In this paper, I suggest that suffering has not a mere perceptual/physical but a genuinely a somatic aspect (for example, we often let our head hang when suffering grief or stress) that encodes, enacts and embodies emotions, while we should also strictly differentiate between pain as part of the somatic site and only part of this site, whereas suffering exists in different sites altogether (semantic and/or narrative), even if it can be founded in somatic states or be expressed somatically.
This issue, the connection of pain, (human) agency and narrative, is also not a novelty in the history of science, philosophy and political thought. As political, I understand any action that refers to states of
others and interfering in those states, which requires that a politics of suffering obtains to emotional kinds and cultures of empathy culminating in styles of narrative. Narrativity is a basic condition of human experience that ranges from psychology to architecture and ICT design, because “people live their lives as a narrative”. Narrative can mean a number of things here. Narrative sites (the spaces that narratives both construct and inhabit, that they occupy and furnish) entail “possible worlds” because the problem of transforming pain into suffering re-describes a 'perceptual world' as a sequence of events that 'comes into place' through organization. How this organization is facilitated is problematic from a theoretical point of view. The traditional point of view shared by such diverse writers as from Habermas to Bakhtin is by way of 'textual organisation', whether by logos or dia-logos. Of course, this account is right in so far that there is a deeper root that also leads toward textual practices and “a beginning in Kant' categories of the mind organizing sensory experience to produce meaning” (Millar). This is not just true for dialogos/logos-based aka textual practices, but for the practices that are Real as Grosz, Barad or LaRuelle argue, textual and non-textual, discursive and non-discursive, dia-logical and dia-physical. And they are narrative and semantic, not because or when they are textual, but in all cases it is true that: They are semantic because they have meaning, and because they have meaning they are events and they are sequential , and the order of the sequence is narrative because a minimalist account of narrative suggest it to refer to a representation of at least two events with a temporal ordering between them.
Over the course of this paper, I will unfold the issue from the displaced human view in the three dialectical relations and a) show that they can be conceptualized generally as somatic, semantic, and narrative styles and spaces, and b) how a shift in style by way of digitalization will lead to the reconceptualization of the spaces in a human ecology, argued on the example of medical ecology and anthropology. Finally, c) I will argue, that in digitalizing humans, we are imposing a new governmental regime upon human ecology to the point where the question, “Are you sitting comfortably?” is followed by a “revenge of the sit” because the new truth about cats and dogs is that, indeed, they do yodel.
availability and the number of medical issues in which they are
used. Common opinion in our optico-centric culture assigns to
these technologies the role of highly effective tool to aid in
diagnosing illness. In this paper, it is argued that imaging
technology has another and even more influential role in the
doctor-patient interaction, but also in society at large,
transcending the diagnostic process itself. Imaging is, in itself,
not just a gathering of data, but a specific way of ordering
information and thereby attains epistemological properties that
make it a tool, a medium and a social actor at the same time. By
conflating in these properties on the level of medical practice,
imaging is revealed to be more than a passive application. With
its agentic properties revealed, it becomes apparent that not only
does imaging serve as a persuasive technology, it attains a
constitutive nature that becomes at first increasingly defining of
the doctor-patient relation, the idea of the body and of disease
itself. In the conclusion of the paper, future areas of research into
imaging as a persuasive technology are briefly outlined for
gender studies and elderly care-recipients' lifeworlds as a part of
the regime of Ambient Assistive Technologies (AAT)
the body can be and should be studied as two different points of view from within a Foucauldian
perspective, concerning two modes of discourse analysis which strongly inform the discussion of
heterotopology. Foucault's reference to the body in light of the 1967 essay “Des espaces autres” (“Of
other spaces”) enables a solid operationalization in reconstructive research in the history of science,
media, and society that allows for the subversion and deconstruction of myths concerning the concept
of the human body in both the history and contemporary practices of biomedicine in its respective
publics. The bridge and reconciliation between Kantian, phenomenological and neo-empiricist myths of
the body by way of operationalization of Foucault's heterotoplogy (1967/1984), means to map the
events and constellations of experience through micro-ethnography and micro-theorizing,
reconstructing the historical micro-climate (Roland Barthes) under which experience of the body as a
body embedded in the event became possible