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Non-things
Upheaval in the Lifeworld
Byung-Chul Han (Author), Daniel Steuer (Translated by)
9781509551705, Polity Press
Paperback / softback, published 20 May 2022
110 pages
20.8 x 14 x 1.3 cm, 0.181 kg
“Byung-Chul Han […] has sounded the alarm about the next and even more sinister stage of societal evolution, wherein the terrestrial order itself gives way to the rising digital order.” “an aesthetic call to 're-romanticize' and 're-materialize' our relationship to the world.”
Matthew Olemesky, The American Spectator
“Han’s great achievement in this book is to describe something that anyone who spends their time working from home on a computer, consuming media on streaming platforms, finding dates on Tinder or keeping in touch with friends on Facebook or Instagram will already be at least dimly aware of, though far from necessarily sure how to conceptualise: the deep alienation, the restless dissatisfaction and confusion that one experiences with the world as it is mediated through a screen.”
Literary Review
“fascinating... Han manages... to carve out words in such a way that they appear to have the kind of physical quality that almost allows them to become objects in themselves.”
Art Review
Shanghai Literary Review
“Reading Non-things reminds us of the dangers of severing ties to things since they give our lives meaning. The book points the way forward by suggesting that we must return to positive physical participation on Earth, surrounding ourselves and interacting with things while respecting their separateness. To go through life tethered to things, grounded by the history and memory they establish, is to walk with the Earth, rather than trampling over it or seeking to transcend it altogether.”
Ecological Citizen
“a compact, power punch of a book”
Mandy Brown, A Working Library
We no longer inhabit earth and dwell under the sky: these are being replaced by Google Earth and the Cloud. The terrestrial order is giving way to a digital order, the world of things is being replaced by a world of non-things – a constantly expanding "infosphere" of information and communication which displaces objects and obliterates any stillness and calmness in our lives. Byung-Chul Han's critique of the infosphere highlights the price we are paying for our growing preoccupation with information and communication. Today we search for more information without gaining any real knowledge. We communicate constantly without participating in a community. We save masses of data without keeping track of our memories. We accumulate friends and followers without encountering other people. This is how information develops a form of life that has no stability or duration. And as we become increasingly absorbed in the infosphere, we lose touch with the magic of things which provide a stable environment for dwelling and give continuity to human life. The infosphere may seem to grant us new freedoms but it creates new forms of control too, and it cuts us off from the kind of freedom that is tied to acting in the world. This new book by one of the most creative cultural theorists writing today will be of interest to a wide readership.
Also available as an audiobook.
Preface
From Things to Non-Things
From Possessing to Experiencing
Smartphone
Selfies
Artifical Intelligence
Views of Things
The Villainy of Things
The Reverse of Things
Ghosts
The Magic of Things
The Forgetfulness of Things in Art
Heidegger’s Hand
Things Close to the Heart
Stillness
Excursus on the Jukebox
Notes
Subject Areas: Philosophy [HP]
