Bruno Accarino, Jos de Mul und Hans-Peter Krüger (Hrsg.). Internationales Jahrbuch für Philosophische Anthropologie. Band 7 / International Yearbook for Philosophical Anthropology. Volume 7. Thomas Ebke und Alexy Zhavoronkov (Hrsg.). Nietzsche und die Anthropologie. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2017, 356 p.

Im Zentrum dieses Buches stehen die Fragen nach der systematischen Gestalt von  Friedrich Nietzsches Anthropologie und nach Nietzsches  Effekten  auf die philosophische Anthropologie. Im gegensatz zu der langen tonangebenden antrianthropologischen  Tradition der Nietzsche-Deutung soll der Band Impulse zu einer Lektüre von Nietzsche als einen anthropologisch sensiblen Denker setzen.

Jos de Mul. Welk lichaamsdeel kunnen we binnenkort missen? Rubriek De Grote Vraag. In: Vrij Nederland. Jaargang 78 (2017), Oktober: 14-15.

De rol van de bij reproductie betrokken organen zie ik in een mogelijk niet al te ver weg gelegen toekomst afnemen. Niet dat de geslachtsdelen zullen verdwijnen (die hebben immers ook nog andere functies), maar het lijkt me niet ondenkbaar dat ‘wild baren’, zoals de wilden in reservaten in Huxleys A Brave New World, in toenemende mate in onbruik zal geraken. Naarmate het modificeren van genetische eigenschappen steeds gebruikelijker zal worden, zal waarschijnlijk ook de verdere ontwikkeling van het embryo in toenemende mate buitenbaarmoederlijk – in ectopic pregnancy tubes (al bestaat de combinatie van ectopic pregnancy en tubes nog niet) gaan plaatsvinden. Deze ontwikkelingen resoneren door naar de politiek: het patenteren van genetische eigenschappen door marktpartijen en de rol die de staat dient te spelen zijn dan de hot items in de biopolitiek. De in 2031 te publiceren jubileumeditie van Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, naar aanleiding van de honderdste verjaardag van het boek, wordt een van de grootste bestsellers aller tijden.

Jos de Mul. Athens, or the Fate of Europe. Journal of Philosophical Research. Special supplement: Selected Papers from the XXIII World Congress of Philosophy. 2015: 221–227.

ABSTRACT: In his essay ‘The Idea of Europe’ George Steiner claims that European culture derives from “a primordial duality, the twofold inheritance of Athens and Jerusalem”. For Steiner, the relationship between Greek rationalism and Jewish religion, which is at once conflictual and syncretic, has engaged the entire history of European philosophy, morality, and politics. However, given this definition, at present the United States of America seem to be more European that ‘the old Europe’ itself. Against Steiner, it will be argued that in order to fathom the distinctive characteristic of European culture, we have to take a third European tradition into account, which is inextricably bound up with Athens: the tradition of Greek tragedy. If we may call Europe a tragic continent, it is not only because its history is characterised by an abundance of real political tragedies, but also because it embodies, as an idea and an ideal, a tragic awareness of the fragility of human life. Instead of reducing the ‘idea of Europe’ to a financial and economic issue, Europe should remain faithful to this idea and ideal.

First of all I like to thank the organizers for their invitation to join this symposium on Art and Cultures. As a tribute to the magnificent city of Athens and its inhabitants, I will talk about the relationship between European culture and the art form that is inextricably tied to the city of Athens: Greek tragedy. The thesis I will defend is that European culture distinguishes itself from other world cultures, and in particular from North-American culture, with which it shares both its Christian and its scientific worldview, by its deeply tragic character. This claim, I will argue, is neither a pessimistic nor an optimistic one, because tragedy is beyond this simple dichotomy. If I claim that Europe is a tragic continent, I refer both to its grandeur and pitfalls.

My talk consists of two parts. First, in a critical discussion with George Steiner, I will address the question of the identity of European culture. In the second part I will relate this identity to Greek tragedy.

Bard van de Weijer, Kunstmatige intelligentie wordt steeds menselijker (Interview met Jos de Mul). De Volkskrant, 30 december 2017,  25-26.

Door de reuzensprongen die AI maakt is de mens er niet langer zeker dat hij het enige wezen met zelfbewustzijn blijft

Daar heb je het al. Nu wil ze ook nog een kind. De met kunstmatige intelligentie begiftigde robot Sophia wil zich voortplanten, u las het hiernaast al. Zodra AI aan procreatie begint te denken weten we twee dingen zeker: 1) het zelfbewustzijn van AI is kennelijk zo ver ontwikkeld dat het aan nakomelingen begint te denken en 2) de door Stephen Hawking en Elon Musk gevreesde singulariteit (de hypothetische transhumanistische toekomstvisie die ervan uitgaat dat het computerdenken zich zo zal ontwikkelen dat apparaten als Sophia ons met hun denkkracht zullen overvleugelen, met mogelijk allerlei naar bijgevolg, zoals knechting) is nog maar een muizenstapje weg.

Jos de Mul. Hoe ik bijna boeddhist werd. Trouw. Bijlage Letter en Geest, 25 november 2017, 14-18.

Het gastenverblijf van de Ritsumeikanuniversiteit ligt vlak bij de Ryoan-ji tempel met zijn beroemde zentuin, aan de voet van de heuvels die Kyoto omringen. Terwijl ik mijn gastcolleges over de Griekse tragedie voorbereid,  leest mijn vrouw Gerry over de 1200 kilometer  lange Saigoku-bedevaartstocht naar 33 tempels in de Kansei regio. De tocht viert volgend jaar haar 1300ste verjaardag.

Ik heb, anders dan mijn lief, niet veel talent voor religie. Aan mijn opvoeding heeft dat niet gelegen. Ik groeide op in een Nederlands-hervormd gezin in Terneuzen, waarin voor iedere maaltijd werd gebeden. Elke schooldag begon met een uur bijbelse geschiedenis. Ik genoot van de verhalen en koester nog altijd het plechtstatige Nederlands van de statenbijbel, die mijn vader op zijn dertiende, bij de kerstfeest in 1942 van de zondagschool kreeg. Maar toen ik als dertienjarige van mijn oom Leen een boek over de evolutie te lezen kreeg, verkocht ik mijn ziel aan de wetenschap. Omdat ik die fantastische bijbelverhalen altijd al met een lichte scepsis had aangehoord, was het afscheid van het geloof geen traumatische gebeurtenis en ben ik nooit een militant atheïst à la Richard Dawkins geworden. Als wijsgerig antropoloog fascineert de religie mij nog steeds om wat ze bewerkstelligt, zowel ten goede als ten kwade.

Mijn lief is uit ander, katholiek hout gesneden. Ook zij zei de kerk vaarwel, maar er bleef een spiritueel vuurtje in haar smeulen. Gerry mediteert dagelijks en kan geen kathedraal betreden zonder een kaarsje voor Maria te ontsteken. En nu, in Kyoto, mag ik, ongelovige Thomas, haar vergezellen.

Jos de Mul. Meeting OSCAR and Erica. On almost living bodies, new media aesthetics, and the East-West divide. In Aesthetics and Mass Culture. Proceedings of the 20th International Congress of Aesthetics. Seoul: Seoul National University, Invited Round Table. Seoul: Seoul National University, 2017,. 64-69.

Abstract In this paper OSCAR, the protagonist of the online science fiction project The Modular Body of Dutch media artist Floris Kaayk, meets Erica, an android robot, functioning as an autonomous conversation partner, and designed by the Japanese robotic engineer Hiroshi Ishiguro. It will be argued that these two cultural artifacts, despite striking similarities (both are advanced products of reductionist converging technologies, balancing between fiction and reality, and embedded in the mass medium environment of the Internet), from an ontological perspective they embody two different attitudes towards robots and artificial intelligences. Whereas The Modular Body is prototypical for the Christian Western worldview in which android robots are under taboo, the Asian love for android robots like Erica, which mimic human appearance and behavior as close as possible, is connected with the reflective anthropomorphism that characterizes Eastern religions like Buddhism and Shintoism.  Although we should be aware of a digital revival of orientalism (the more because in our globalizing world we increasingly exchange and share cultural forms, information and communication technologies being obvious examples), Westerners may learn something from Eastern robotics. Because of their religious traditions Asian people may be better prepared for the conceptualization and design of a society in which humans and artificial lifeforms harmoniously live together.  

Jos de Mul. The Earth Garden: Going Back or Going Forward to Nature? Frontiers of Philosophy in China. Vol.12 (2017) 2: 237-248.

Keywords environmental pollution, environmental aesthetics, philosophy of nature, comparative aesthetics, philosophy of technology

Jos de Mul. Turkish Delight. In: Ayşen Savaş & Sevin Osmay (eds.), Jale Erzen Testimonial. Middle East  Technical University (METU) Press, 2017, 146-152.

Of all the times I met with Jale Erzen over the last couple of decades, our meeting in May 2002 was perhaps the most memorable. Jale had invited me to take part in the 6th International Symposium of SANART about Art and Social Engagement, held at the Middle East Technical University (METU). The Symposium took place shortly after 9/11, a time when many heated discussions were held in Turkey, just as in other countries, about the political Islam, the role of religion in society, and the separation of church and state, and in Ankara the tension was running high between the Kemalists and the politicians inspired by the Islam.  

Following the conference, I went on a short trip with Jale and about ten other philosophers, from five different continents, to the east of Turkey, which was planned by Jale. We flew to Diyarbakir and then travelled on by bus and later by jeep through the northern part of the virtual state of Kurdistan. It was a memorable trip because of several reasons. In the first place because of the awe-inspiring endless bleak mountains around us, in which the only humans living there seem to be goatherds herding their flocks in search of the last remnants of vegetation. It was difficult to imagine a bigger contrast with the polders in Zeeland where I grew up.  The impression the vast and rugged landscape made on me was intensified by the realisation that we were surrounded by thousands of years of history. This vast region situated 'between the rivers', the Euphrates and the Tigris, used to be called Mesopotamia in ancient times and was full of fig-, olive-, walnut- and pomegranate trees, vines and oleander bushes. According to tradition here was once the Biblical Garden of Eden.

序言 约斯·德·穆尔. In: Zha Changping. World Relational Aesthetics. A History of Ideas in Pioneering Contemporary Chinese Art. Volume One. Shanghai: Sanlian, 2017, xiv-xvi, xvii-xx.

序言约斯·德·穆尔（鹿特丹伊拉斯谟大学）

    2006年，我来中国参加学术讲座，访问了不同的城市。这些城市各具千秋，例如乌鲁木齐和上海。我也参加了国际美学协会在成都举办的会议。会上，我第一次见到查常平先生。介绍我们认识的是一位共同的朋友：上海的历史学者陈新。在成都逗留期间，常平和我有几次对话。我还记得六月一个炎热的夜晚，我们和雕塑家朱成以及我妻子格里（Gerry）一起坐在府河边的露台上，讨论中国和欧洲的当代艺术、宗教和政治的状况，一面享受着四川美食和冰啤，一面看着露台上小孩快乐地玩耍。真是一个美好之夜，让我难以忘怀。

    一晃十多年过去了。此间，常平和我保持着联系。他的出版物我都拜读过（可惜只能读翻译成英文的那些作品，因为我不懂中文）。他产出之多、涉猎之广，令我钦佩，从艺术批评和艺术史——如丰富多彩的《向上成都，身体美学与场景凸现》（2013）——到历史逻辑、日本历史、新约研究和一系列翻译作品。更令我印象深刻的是：他深谙西方艺术理论并且能够灵活应用于汉语语境中。常平确实是一位全面的人文学者，善于运用启发性的跨文化研究方法。

Jos de Mul. Preface. In: Zha Changping. World Relational Aesthetics. A History of Ideas in Pioneering Contemporary Chinese Art. Volume One. Shanghai: Sanlian, 2017, xiv-xvi, xvii-xx.

In 2006, as part of a lecture tour through China, which brought me to cities as different as Urumqi and Shanghai, I also participated in a conference of the International Association of Aesthetics in Chengdu. It was on this occasion that I met Zha Changping for the first time. I was introduced to him by a common friend of us, the Shanghai-based historian Chen Xin. During my stay in Chengdu, Changping and I had several conversations, and I especially remember one hot evening in June, whenwe, together with museum sculptor Zhu Cheng and my wife Gerry, were sitting on a terrace near the Fu river, discussing the state of contemporary art, religion and politics in China and Europe, meanwhile enjoying the delicious Sichuan food and cool beers and watching the joyful play of the little children on the terrace. It was a wonderful evening, to which my memories often return.

Since that first meeting more than ten years have passed, in which Changping and I kept in touch. I followed his publications (unfortunately only being able to read the English ones, as I am not able to read Chinese) and was impressed by his productivity andthe broad scope of his publications, ranging from art criticism and art history – such as the very informative Up-On Chengdu, Somatic Aesthetics and Scene Connection (2013) - to studies in the logic of history, Japanese history, New Testament studies, and a series of translations. What moreover impressed me was his profound familiarity with Western art theories and the creative way he applied them within a Chinese context. Changping proved to be all-round humanities scholar with an inspiring intercultural approach.