Vilém Flusser was a philosopher whose early work engaged with the thought of Martin Heidegger, influenced by existentialism and phenomenology. Phenomenology would later play a major role in his transition to the philosophy of communication and artistic production. Flusser famously posited a dichotomy in history between the "worship of images" and the "worship of texts," exploring the resulting tendencies toward idolatry and "textolatry." His writings, which spanned multiple languages, delve deeply into theoretical approaches to art and media.
Po dovršení sedmdesátého roku svého života nabyl Vilém Flusser dojmu, že dosáhl zralosti, jež ho opravňuje k tomu, aby sepsal to, co sám nazývá sumou. Tehdy ještě netušil, že tato suma se podivnou souhrou okolností stane i jeho nedokončenou filosofickou závětí. Kdo se však začte do díla Lidská geneze, byť by se jednalo o svátečního návštěvníka…
"Two years after his Vampyroteuthis Infernalis, the philosopher Vilém Flusser engaged in another thought experiment: a collection of twenty-two 'scenarios for the future' to be produced as computer-generated media, or technical images, that would break the imaginative logjam in conceiving the social, political, and economic future of the universe. What If? is not just an 'impossible journey' to which Flusser invites us in the first scenario; it functions also as a distorting mirror held up to humanity. Flusser's disarming scenarios of an Anthropocene fraught with nightmares offer new visions that range from the scientific to the fantastic to the playful and whimsical. Each essay reflects our present sense of understanding the world, considering the exploitation of nature and the dangers of global warming, overpopulation, and blind reliance on the promises of scientific knowledge and invention. What If? offers insight into the radical futures of a slipstream Anthropocene that have much to do with speculative fiction, with Flusser's concept of design as 'crafty' or slippery, and with art and the immense creative potential of failure versus reasonable, 'good' computing or calculability. As such, the book is both a warning and a nudge to imagine what we may yet become and be"-- Provided by publisher
Communicology is Vilém Flusser's first thesis on his concepts of technical images and technical imagination. In this foundational text he lays the groundwork for later work, offering a philosophical approach to communication as a phenomena that permeates every aspect of human existence. Clearly organized around questions such as "What is Communication?," "What are Codes?," and "What is Technical Imagination?," the work touches on theater, photography, film, television, and more. Originally written in 1978, but only posthumously published in German, the book is one of the clearest statements of Flusser's theory of communication as involving a variably mediated relation between humans and the world. Although Flusser was writing in the pre-digital 1970s, his work demonstrates a prescience that makes it of significant contemporary interest to scholars in visual culture, art history, media studies, and philosophy.
Kleine Philosophie des Designs (Steidl Pocket)
Die These ist provokant: Unsere Zukunft, schreibt Vilém Flusser, sei vor allem eine Frage des Design. Denn Design ist »Koinzidenz« von neuartigen Ideen aus Wissenschaft und Kunst, Ökonomie und Politik. Scheinbar mühelos verknüpft sich dort Disparates zu einem komplexen Netz von Beziehungen. In Essays, kurzen Prosastücken und Vorträgen erörtert Flusser den Stand der Dinge und das Design der kommenden Epoche. Das Spektrum ist groß: Der Band enthält Reflexionen über die Schaltpläne der Computer und das Ende der Städte, Anmerkungen zur Gestaltung von Raketen und Regenschirmen – phänomenologische Betrachtungen unseres designten Alltags, Glossen über Gegenstände und bitterböse Szenarien der Zukunft. 1993 erschien bei Steidl die erste, kürzere Ausgabe dieser unbotmäßigen Design-Fibel. Das Buch, das mittlerweile in alle Weltsprachen übersetzt wurde, begründete Flussers Ruf als führender Design-Theoretiker und brillanter Vordenker des multimedialen Zeitalters.
Dílo Od subjektu k projektu zachycuje Flusserovo uvažování z posledního období jeho tvorby. Také z tohoto důvodu se jedná o vrcholné formulování jeho celoživotního tématu, kterým je hledání východiska z civilizační krize. Autor z rozličných hledisek sleduje jednotlivé kroky novověkého rozpouštění subjektu i objektu. Moderní člověk ztrácí jakoukoliv oporu v něčem uchopitelném, což dle Flussera může ospravedlňovat pocit dějinné katastrofy. Proti tomuto pochopitelnému stanovisku však vykřesává jiskru naděje, kterou spojuje s projektováním. Tato naděje však nemůže zapřít svou křehkost, kterou doprovází nejednoznačnost Flusserova smyslu pro ironii.
In 1963 Vilém Flusser presented a series of lectures at the Brazilian Institute of Philosophy (IBF) in São Paulo concerning the philosophy of language. The resulting ten essays would eventually be published in 1965 in the annual magazine of the Brazilian Institute of Technology and Aeronautics (ITA), and published here for the first time in book form. Flusser prepared each lecture as a response to the dialogs that followed the preceding lecture, thereby expanding and explicating his philosophy of language in an intense dialogical process. Despite the fact that the other side of the dialogue was not recorded, it becomes clear to the reader that the resulting discussions and polemics generated by the lectures progressively and profoundly changed Flusser's intended trajectory for the course. This kind of philosophy in fieri was in part the result of a group effort between all of those present, and subsequently synthesized by Flusser in every essay. As a result of this experience, Flusser adopted this dialogic method as an integral part of his future work.
Exploring the life and contributions of Vilém Flusser, the book highlights his journey from Prague to Brazil and then to France, where he made significant impacts in philosophy and journalism. His diverse body of work includes influential texts like The Shape of Things and Towards a Philosophy of Photography, showcasing his thoughts on media, communication, and migration. Flusser's writings reflect his unique perspective shaped by his experiences as a migrant and thinker, making him a significant figure in contemporary philosophy.