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From the Golem to Freedom
A Study on Technology and Religion
From the Golem to Freedom
A Study on Technology and Religion
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Description
With a particular focus on social media, Gábor L. Ambrus explores how human beings relate to contemporary information technology. Ambrus argues that religious traditions – such as Judaism and Christianity, as well as secular philosophical thought inspired by religion – can be invoked to describe both the freedom and 'unfreedom' of the user of information technology.
To illustrate how individuals relate to technology in a restricted and totalitarian online environment, Ambrus adopts the figure and legend of the golem from Jewish mysticism. At the same time, his argument features other religious concepts and themes to describe an alternative to our present predicament of 'unfreedom', while not seeking to portray any 'redemption' outside the technological environment.
At the core of his argument, Ambrus presents the experience of nothingness as a source of freedom, opening up the possibility for a free relationship for us all with information technology.
Table of Contents
2. Totalitarianism
3. Mastery and Slavery
4. The Golem
5. The Vicissitudes of Attention
6. Self-Expression and the Struggle for Recognition
7. The Dialectic of Self-Expression
8. Transgression and Limitation
9. Nihilism and Nothingness
10. God's Nothingness
11.Vita Activa and the Will
12. Contemplation and Entertainment
13. The Doppelgänger
14. The Cyber-Kafkaesque
15. The Diagrams of the Ego
16. Freedom
Conclusion
Index
Bibliography
Product details

Published | 08 Feb 2024 |
---|---|
Format | Hardback |
Edition | 1st |
Extent | 224 |
ISBN | 9781350361270 |
Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
Illustrations | 3 bw illus |
Dimensions | 234 x 156 mm |
Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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