De plaats van de mens in het Symbioceen. Afscheidsrede. Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam. 31 mei 2023, Aula Erasmusuniversiteit, 16:00 uur.

In de interdisciplinaire conferentie die op 30 en 31 mei aan de Erasmus School of Philosophy (EUR) zal plaatsvinden ter gelegenheid van het emeritaat van Jos de Mul zullen een aantal Nederlandse collega’s waarmee hij gedurende zijn academische leven in NWO- en ander verband nauw heeft samengewerkt. De conferentie wordt afgesloten met de Afscheidsrede van Jos de Mul. Klik voor het programma en registratieformulier door naar deze link. 

Jos de Mul. Uncle Sim Wants you! Ludieke oorlogsvoering. De Groene Amsterdammer. Nr. 6, 9 februari 2023.

Hedendaagse oorlogen, zoals de Golfoorlogen en de huidige oorlog in Oekraïne, worden mede beïnvloed door de steeds realistischer wargames. Inspiratiebron voor de analyse van dergelijke  games is nog steeds Johan Huizinga’s Homo ludens.

Dat de vijfde editie van de jaarlijkse Video Games & High Culture Conference, die afgelopen najaar in Bari, in de hak van de Italiaanse laars, plaatsvond, gewijd was aan de relatie tussen computergames en oorlog was niet heel verwonderlijk. De oorlog in Oekraïne is op ieders lip. Voor Europeanen is deze oorlog geen ver-van-ons-bed-show. Niet alleen omdat hij in Europa plaatsvindt, maar ook omdat de Europese Unie en de afzonderlijke lidstaten vanwege de sancties tegen Rusland en de levering van steeds zwaarder wapentuig aan Oekraïne – van helmen tot Leopard 2-tanks en wellicht spoedig F16-gevechtsvliegtuigen – steeds dieper de oorlog worden ingetrokken. Poetin is de brute inval in Oekraïne bovendien steeds openlijker gaan framen als een oorlog tegen de Navo, die erop uit zou zijn Rusland te vernietigen. En aangezien het gebruik van tactische kernwapens dan volgens de Russische kernwapendoctrine gerechtvaardigd is, is ook de dreiging van een nucleaire oorlog in Europa weer helemaal terug.

Jos de Mul. Uncle 'Sim' wants you! Playful warefare. Lecture and contribution to the Panel Discussion of the conference Videogames, War High Culture Bari: October 17, 2022.

Jos de Mul. I giochi come vero Organon della filosofia. Ontologie ludiche: Schelling, Huizinga, Borges e oltre. In: Marco Accordi Rickards & Fabio Belsanti (Ed.) Homo Cyber Ludens. Bari: Idra Editing, 101-129.[1] Also availble as Kindle edition in Italian and English.

Introduzione

Uno spettro ludico si aggira per il mondo. Dagli anni '60, in cui la parola "ludico" è diventata popolare in Europa e negli Stati Uniti per designare comportamenti e oggetti inerenti il gioco, la ludicità è diventata sempre più una caratteristica fondamentale della nostra cultura. Nei primi decenni del XXI secolo si può persino parlare di una «ludificazione della cultura» globale (Raessens 2006). Forse la prima cosa che viene in mente in questo contesto è l'immensa popolarità dei videogiochi (Frissen et al. 2015). Ma sebbene forse più visibile, la cultura dei videogiochi è solo una manifestazione del processo di ludificazione che sembra penetrare in ogni dominio culturale (Neitzel e Nohr 2006). Nella nostra attuale economia dell’esperienza, ad esempio, la ludicità non caratterizza solo il tempo libero (shopping “divertente”, giochi televisivi, parchi divertimento, uso ludico di computer, internet e smartphone), ma anche quegli ambiti che un tempo erano seri, come il lavoro (che oggi dovrebbe essere soprattutto divertente), educazione (serious games), politica (campagne ludiche) e persino guerra (wargames digitali e simulatori virtuali di battaglie sul campo). Secondo Jeremy Rifkin, «il gioco sta diventando importante nell'economia culturale quanto il lavoro lo era nell'economia industriale» (Rifkin 2000, 263). La cultura postmoderna nel suo insieme è stata descritta come «un gioco senza uno scopo generale, un gioco senza una destinazione trascendente» (Minnema 1998, 21). E secondo il sociologo Zygmunt Bauman, anche l'identità umana è diventata un fenomeno ludico. Nella cultura ludica, sostiene, la ludicità non è più limitata all'infanzia, ma è diventata un atteggiamento permanente: «Il segno dell'età adulta postmoderna è la volontà di abbracciare il gioco con tutto il cuore, come fanno i bambini» (Bauman 1995, 99).

Di conseguenza, i fenomeni del giocare e del gioco sono osservati e studiati con sempre più attenzione dalle scienze naturali, le scienze sociali e le scienze umane. Si può pensare, ad esempio, all'implementazione della teoria dei giochi in biologia (Sigmund 1993), economia (Von Neumann e Morgenstern 2007, Leonard 2010) e antropologia culturale (Bateson 1977, 1955). Oltre al crescente interesse per  l’attività ludica, che in queste discipline era preesistente, negli ultimi decenni – motivato dalla crescita sostanziale del tempo libero e dalla crescita della ludoindustria e del ludocapitalismo (Dibbell 2008), diversi nuovi campi interamente dedicati allo studio di giochi e videogiochi sono emersi (es. Raessens e Goldstein 2005, Fuchs et al. 2014).

Come dobbiamo intendere questa “ludificazione della cultura”? Cosa dice della nostra vita e della nostra visione del mondo all'inizio del XXI secolo? In ciò che segue presenterò un'interpretazione di questo fenomeno della ludificazione con l'aiuto di due libri: il Sistema dell’idealismo trascendentale (System of transcendental Idealism, 1800) di Friedrich Schelling e Homo ludens (1938) di Johan Huizinga, insieme a un racconto di Jorges Luis Borges intitolato La biblioteca di Babele (The Library of Babel, 1941). Sosterrò che questi lavori, quando li collochiamo nel contesto dell'ontologia dei database che caratterizza la nostra epoca informatica, offrono una prospettiva illuminante sull'ontologia ludica che sta alla base della ludificazione della cultura.

Svilupperò la mia argomentazione in tre passaggi. Nei primi due presenterò alcune delle idee chiave che si possono trovare rispettivamente nel Sistema dell’Idealismo trascendentale di Schelling e nel saggio Homo ludens di Huizinga. Discuterò il loro comune desiderio romantico di trascendenza immanente mediante l'estetizzazione del mondo, così come la loro comune – e non meno romantica – avversione verso la tecnologia moderna. Tuttavia, come sosterrò nella terza e ultima parte del mio intervento, contrariamente a quanto credevano sia Schelling sia Huizinga, è proprio nelle moderne tecnologie dell'informazione che si realizza l’ontologia ludica che cercavano. Usando La biblioteca di Babele (e facendo anche riferimento a simulazioni ludiche di questa biblioteca su internet), questo mi porterà alla conclusione che la svolta ludica della tecnologia trasforma il gioco per computer (i videogiochi) nel "vero organon della filosofia".

Jos de Mul. Games as the True Organon of Philosophy. Playful ontologies: Schelling, Huizinga, Borges and beyond. In: Marco Accordi Rickards & Fabio Belsanti (Eds.) Homo Cyber Ludens. Bari: Idra Editing, 97-124.  Also availble as Kindle edition in Italian and English.

Introduction

A playful specter is haunting the world. Since the 1960s, in which the word ‘ludic’ became popular in Europe and the US to designate playful behavior and artifacts, playfulness has increasingly become a mainstream characteristic of our culture. In the first decades of the 21^st century, we can even speak of a global ‘ludification of culture’ (Raessens 2006). Perhaps the first thing that comes to mind in this context is the immense popularity of computer games (Frissen et al. 2015). But although perhaps most visible, computer game culture is only one manifestation of the process of ludification that seems to penetrate every cultural domain (Neitzel and Nohr 2006). In our present experience economy, for example, playfulness not only characterizes leisure time (fun shopping, game shows on television, amusement parks, playful use of computers, internet and smartphones), but also those domains that used to be serious, such as work (which should above all be fun today), education (serious gaming), politics (ludic campaigning), and even warfare (video games like war simulators and interfaces). According to Jeremy Rifkin “play is becoming as important in the cultural economy as work was in the industrial economy” (Rifkin 2000, 263). Postmodern culture as a whole has been described as “a game without an overall aim, a play without a transcendent destination” (Minnema 1998, 21). And according to sociologist Zygmunt Bauman, even human identity has become a playful phenomenon. In ludic culture, he argues, playfulness is no longer restricted to childhood, but has become a lifelong attitude: “The mark of postmodern adulthood is the willingness to embrace the game whole-heartedly, as children do” (Bauman 1995, 99).

As a result, the phenomena play and game have gained strong attention in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. One can think, for example, of the implementation of game theory in biology (Sigmund 1993), economics (Von Neumann and Morgenstern 2007, Leonard 2010) and cultural anthropology (Bateson 1977, 1955). In addition to the increased interest in play and games in these already existing disciplines, in the last decades – motivated by the substantial growth of leisure time and the growth of ludo-industry and ludo-capitalism (Dibbell 2008), several new fields entirely devoted to the study of play and (computer) games have emerged (e.g. Raessens and Goldstein 2005, Fuchs et al. 2014).

How should we understand this ‘ludification of culture’? What does it say about our life and world view at the beginning of the 21^st century?  Today I will present an interpretation of this phenomenon of ludification with the help of two books - Friedrich Schelling’s System of transcendental Idealism [System des transzendentalen Idealismus] (1800) and Johan Huizinga’s Homo Ludens. A Study of the Play-Element in Culture [Homo Ludens. Proeve ener bepaling van het spel-element der cultuur] (1938) and one short story, Jorges Luis Borges’ ‘The library of Babel’[‘La biblioteca de Babel’] (1941). I will argue that these works, when we situate them in the context of the database ontology which characterizes our computer age, offer an illuminating outlook on the playful ontology that underpins the ludification of culture.

I will develop my argument in three steps. In the first two I will present some of the key ideas that can be found in respectively Schelling’s System of transcendental Idealism and Huizinga’s Homo ludens. I will discuss their shared romantic desire for immanent transcendence through aesthetization of the world, as well as their shared – and no less romantic - aversion toward modern technology. However, as I will argue in the third and last part of my talk, contrary to what both Schelling and Huizinga expected, precisely in modern information technologies the playful ontology they were after, is realized. Using ‘The Library of Babel’ (and also referring to playful simulations of this Library at the internet), this will lead me to the conclusion that the ludic turn of technology turns the computer game into the ‘true organon of philosophy’.

Jos de Mul. Panel discussion Artificial Intelligence: promises and public concerns. Trust in Science Conference. Rotterdam: Erasmus University Rotterdam, June 13, 2022.

IANUS ('Inspiring and ANchoring trUst in Science, research and innovation') is a Horizon Europe project funded by the European Commission. Our aim is to strengthen warranted trust in science by fostering participation in research as a co-creative and inclusive process, sensitive to societal values, concerns and needs. We believe that trust must be inspired by transparency and trustworthiness of knowledge production, and anchored by actively involving and serving society, as part of the modus operandi of science. The complexity and urgency of societal challenges has rapidly intensified, and trust in science is an important requirement to address these challenges effectively.

On the 13th of June 2022, the IANUS project will be launched during a public conference, involving prominent speakers and panel discussions on open science and populism; science, pharmaceutical companies and global political tensions (lessons from the COVID pandemic, and promises and concerns regarding AI. 

Link to the audio recording of the whole conference. (The panel on AI and Public concerns starts at 3:37)

Jos de Mul & Alberto Romele. Imagination, Images, and Imaginaries. A Dialogue with Jos de Mul, In: José Higuera Rubio, Alberto Romele, Sarion Ridrighiero & Celeste Pedro (eds.) From Wisdom to Data. Philosophical Atlas on Visual Representations of Knowledge. Porto: University of Porto Press, 2022, 35-44.

1. Imagination

Alberto Romele: The first part of this dialogue is focused on the notion of imagination. It is from your work (to which I would add the work of Paul Ricoeur) that I have learned that (1) imagination is not creatio ex nihilo, but rather recombination and (2) imagination is always technologically (and digitally) externalized. I am thinking, for instance, of your 2009 article “The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Recombination”. Could you tell me a little bit more about your understanding of imagination, its relationship with technology, and the importance you attribute to authors like Kant, Dilthey, and Cassirer in your research?

Jos De Mul: I have been writing a new book on database for some time now. The reason why the book is still not finished is that it completely went out of hand in a way when I rediscovered Cassirer. I wrote an additional chapter on Cassirer and it's about 90 pages now, so it's almost a complete book on Cassirer now. But it was important for me because all things fell in that place. The first chapter of my book is called “The Medialization of Experience”. And I start with Kant in the book.

Jos de Mul & Julien Kloeg. De mens als open vraag. Het Europese oorlogsdilemma. De Groene Amsterdammer. Nr. 25, 23 juni 2022, 46-51.

De brute invasie van Oekraïne door Rusland, zo valt alom te vernemen in de media, heeft Europa doen opschrikken uit een aangenaam-vredige, maar nogal naïeve illusie die ruim vijfenzeventig jaar heeft geduurd. Hoewel daarbij de bloedige burgeroorlog die enkele decennia geleden de Balkan verscheurde lijkt te worden vergeten, is de verwijzing naar de Tweede Wereldoorlog wel te begrijpen. Het is immers – net als de invasie van Polen door Nazi-Duitsland in 1939 – opnieuw een grootmacht die een kleiner land aanvalt en daarbij, door vernietiging van steden en medische voorzieningen en het doden, verkrachten en deporteren van burgers, rücksichtslos internationaal oorlogsrecht en mensenrechten schendt. En ook nu is er de angst dat het niet bij de invasie van één land zal blijven.

De ironie wil dat de invasie ditmaal niet geschiedt uit naam van het nazisme, maar volgens de agressor als doel heeft het nazisme in Oekraïne te vernietigen. De overeenkomsten tussen het nazistische ideologie en die van Poetin zijn evenwel opvallend. Bijzonder instructief is Poetins, op het op het fascistische gedachtengoed van Lev Goemiljov en Alexander Doegin gebaseerde essay ‘Over de historische eenheid van Russen en Oekraïners’, dat 12 juli 2021 op de website van het Kremlin verscheen. Hierin verdedigt Poetin de Roesski Mir, de hereniging van de Groot-, Klein- en Wit-Russische ‘broedervolken’ op historische gronden. Ze vormen samen een ‘superetnos’, dat de incarnatie vormt van de steppevolken die in de loop van de eeuwen Eurazië hebben bevolkt en daar een superieure cultuur hebben gevestigd. De broedervolken zijn verbonden door een gemeenschappelijke oertaal, bloedbanden en de orthodox-christelijke religie. Deze cultuur wordt nu evenwel bedreigd door de legalistische westerse cultuur, die sinds enkele decennia Oekraïne vergiftigt met decadente liberale ideeën zoals ‘zogenaamde gendervrijheden’.

De voormalige Oekraïense president Petro Porosjenko vergeleek Poetins essay met Hitlers Sudetenland-speech die in 1938 vooraf ging aan de onderwerping van Tsjecho-Slowakije door Nazi-Duitsland. En er is nog een overeenkomst. Hoewel Rusland het woord ‘oorlog’ krampachtig vermijdt, plaatste de invasie van Oekraïne Europa voor de onontkoombare keus zich wel of niet in een (proxi)oorlog met de agressor te storten. Hoewel de publieke discussie wordt beheerst door de angst dat Europa daarmee een Derde Wereldoorlog riskeert, roept de Russische invasie ook de meer principiële vraag op of en in welke mate een liberaal-democratische rechtsstaat gerechtigd is militaire middelen in te zetten om de vernietiging van de eigen of een bevriende democratische rechtsstaat te voorkomen.

Jos de Mul. The Matrix: Actueler dan ooit! Studium Generale lezing Universiteit Twente. Gebouw: Vrijhof, 19:30 - 21:00 uur. Te zien en te beluisteren op YouTube

‘Welcome in the desert of the real.’ Met deze onheilspellende woorden van filosoof Baudrillard wordt hoofdpersoon Neo welkom geheten in de ‘echte wereld’. The Matrix-trilogie is een ode aan de fundamentele filosofische vraag: wat is waar? Prof. dr. Jos de Mul, hoogleraar wijsbegeerte (Erasmus Universiteit), laat zien hoeveel filosofie er achter The Matrix schuilgaat: van Plato en Descartes tot aan Nietzsche. De trilogie blijkt actueler dan ooit. Leven wij tegenwoordig – gekluisterd aan onze beeldschermen en gebombardeerd door fake news – niet deels in een virtuele wereld? Waar in The Matrix machines energie uit mensen zogen, daar onttrekken nu Google en Facebook informatie aan ons. In zijn lezing zal De Mul ook uitvoerig ingaan op het zowel bejubelde als verguisde vierde deel van The Matrix Saga, dat eerder dit jaar in première ging.

Jos de Mul. Inleiding en  discussieleiding lezing Kees Schuyt:  Plessner en de kracht van de liberale democratie. Amsterdam: SPUI25, 30 maart, 2022. Beluister de lezing.