This course is designed as an experiment. The goal of the course, for all of us, is simply to experiment - with the World Wide Web, Gophers, FTP, Electronic Mail, etc. In short, the course is intended to enable us to attempt to think Computer-related media.

The Ancient Greek philosophers, the Presocratics in particular, were not bound by a history of philosophical, cultural, political, or social strictures in their attempts to "philosophize" the cosmos. There were no established philosophical paradigms for thinking the nature of human social relations, one's place in the cosmos, or the "nature" of oneself. In a word, they were free to stylizee the cosmos. Metaphysics was "up for grabs." In this respect the cosmos was open to the freedom of the subjunctive, the possibility of thinking the world within the context of the "what if...?"

Is the phenomenon of the "World Wide Web" or the "Internet" akin to this world of the Ancient Presocratics? What is the "nature" of the Web? Or does it have a "nature?" How might one go about thinking the nature or character of the Web? Has its "nature" already been decided, or is it, like the cosmos of the Ancients, still "up for grabs?" Are there similarities concerning the openness of the "communal" or "social" bond of the Presocratics and the Web? Is it possible to provide a "Grand Unified Theory" of the Web, or is its "nature" necessarily plural or rhizomatic? Has its "nature" already been decided, or is it being decided?

Is the "nature" of computer-related media simply a question of communicating "information?" If so, what is the "nature" of such information? What types of information will be deemed important? How does such information affect its users and its producers? What is/are the merit(s) of such information?

In an attempt to respond to such questions, and to generate new questions, we will read various off-line and on-line texts, as well as "surf" the net.

Read (think), Read (think), Read (think). Surf (think), Surf (think), Surf (think). Write (think), Write (think), Write (take a break).

More formally, read the texts, both off-line and on-line, "surf" the Net/Web, and write one 10-15 page philosophical paper about the Web, including readings, sites visited, etc. You will need to see the instructor to discuss the feasibility of your topic by mid-term! C'est tout!

The Presocratics are available at Presocratic Fragments

Plato, The Phaedrus

Nietzsche, Philosophy in the Tragic Age of the Greeks

Albert Borgmann, Crossing the Postmodern Divide

Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation

Gilles Deleuze, "Rhizome" (available in class)

William Gibson, Neuromancer

Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash

Some Links on Cyberpunk
1. Check out Imagining the Future a course offered at Duke University.

2. There's also CyberPunk from the University of Texas, with lots of links to cyberpunk sites.

3. Check out And Philip K. Dick Wept an on-line essay concerning Philip K. Dick's relation to cyberpunk.

4. An archive of the JayHawk Series by Mary K. Kuhner.

5. hyper(sub)text is an Electronic Magazine devoted to various futuristic essays, articles, etc. Contains sci-fi, cyberpunk, etc., but classifies itself in terms of none of these categories.

6. Linenoiz E-Zine is an on-line magazine focusing on cyberpunk as a literary genre and as a cultural movement.

7. Here's Sony Pictures' Johnny Mnemonic page on the recent film.

Following the links below, and the links contained within them, should get you just about anywhere on the Web you may want to go (you may of course need to invoke a search engine, available from the Eclectic Diner's "Lose and Find" page).

The Eclectic Diner

Algy's Homepage

Bombardi's Homepage

MTSU Philosophy Department Homepage

Modern Culture Zine

Steven Shaviro's Homepage