APP EDITORS’ NOTE: The essay below, Otto Paans’s “Echoes of the Future: Apprehensive Aesthetics for a Bygone World,” will appear here in serial form, and then be published in full, in a slightly revised version, in Borderless Philosophy 3 (2020). This is the second installment. But you can read or download a .pdf of the … [continue reading]
Author Archives: Otto Paans
Echoes of the Future: Apprehensive Aesthetics for a Bygone World, #1–Introduction.
APP EDITORS’ NOTE: The essay below, Otto Paans’s “Echoes of the Future: Apprehensive Aesthetics for a Bygone World,” will appear here in serial form, and then be published in full, in a slightly revised version, in Borderless Philosophy 3 (2020). This is the first installment. But you can read or download a .pdf of the … [continue reading]
Philosophy and Cognition in the Age of Mechanical-Digital Reproduction, #1–Introduction.
I. Introduction: The Disappearance of Authenticity, The Appearance of Estrangement Arguably, the acceleration of modernization during the 19th century posed pressing questions about the nature of authenticity. During the latter half of the 19th century, one discerns a certain tendency towards bewilderment, a sense of disorientation that reflects the swift changes of the world during … [continue reading]
Meditations & Mediations, #5—Recurrence.
Previous Installments #4: Movement. #3: Context. #2: In an Instant. #1: Introduction, and On Sources. Section V: Recurrence To recur is to become present again: the representation of a theme or idea is its re-presentation in consciousness. Similarly, to recur is to occur again. This term signifies the phenomenon whereby an event is repeated. To … [continue reading]
Meditations & Mediations, #4—Movement.
Previous Installments #3: Context. #2: In an Instant. #1: Introduction, and On Sources. Section IV: Movement To think is to move.[i] Sometimes, this means moving around a given work or topic; sometimes it amounts to following a thread of thought in a sequence of steps, however staggering or hesitant they might be. Moving mentally involves … [continue reading]
Meditations & Mediations, #3—Context.
Previous Installments #2: In an Instant. #1: Introduction, and On Sources. Section III: Context If a series of insights creates a context, what is it—and what does it do for philosophy? The notion of context is one of the strangest concepts we have created. It is a waste basket of all those things that are … [continue reading]
Thoughts on Postmodernity 2: The Tensions of the Past and the Fluidity of the Present.
The first essay in this series is “Thoughts on Postmodernity 1: An Impossible Presentation.” Andrew D. Chapman, in a recent APP essay,“Thoughts on the Relationship Between Postmodernism and Fascism,” makes a large number of philosophically illuminating points, spinning as it were a tightly woven spider’s web of arguments and connections. The great advantage of this … [continue reading]
Meditations & Mediations, #2—In An Instant.
Previous Installments #1: Introduction, and On Sources. Section II: In An Instant Even if mustering up the courage to decide something requires time, making the decision itself happens in an instant. Likewise, to become aware of something often happens in an instant. Instantaneousness and insight share a deep and unexplored connection. Heidegger called this connection … [continue reading]
Fragments of Reality, Fragments of Solidarity.
In this essay, I’d like to respond Michelle Maiese’s thought-provoking recent critical piece on APP, “Smithereens: Reflections in a Black Mirror.” Maiese presents the following (reconstructed) argument: (1) Socialism—whether democratic socialism or social anarchism (aka anarcho-socialism, libertarian socialism, etc.)—is fundamentally concerned with respect for universal human dignity; with human freedom of thought, expression, choice, and action; with … [continue reading]
Thoughts on Postmodernity 1: An Impossible Presentation.
Imagine being introduced to someone at a party. A friend of yours wants you to meet someone she knows and facilitates an encounter. Even before you have shaken hands with your new conversation partner, he exclaims: “I am not an alcoholic!”, before proceeding to tell you his name. Chances are that you will think your … [continue reading]