TY - CHAP

T1 - The messenger as a model in Media Theory. Reflections on the philosophical di-mensions of theorizing Media

AU - Krämer, Sybille

PY - 2016/1/1

Y1 - 2016/1/1

N2 - The concept of communication leads a double life in German discourse. On the one hand, there is the theory of communicative action, coupled with universal pragmatics, and associated with Jürgen Habermas. On the other, there are technical-material theories of communication, derived from the Shannon-Weaver model, and often associated with the name of Friedrich Kittler. Both types of theory converge on a single point: language and media are autonomous and function like an Archimedian point and an a priori. Is it possible to develop a philosophy of the media without following such stances on language and media determinism? This question can be answered in the affirmative only if we reject the thesis that media are autonomous and look at them as heteronomous. The constitutive heteronomy of media is explained from the perspective of a “messenger-model.” Its heuristic value consists in the fact that it rehabilitates and explains the productivity of “transmission” and “transgression” in very different cultural and natural fields. Three messenger-figures are analysed: the religious idea of an angel, the physiological concept of a virus, the juridical and epistemic institution of the witness.

AB - The concept of communication leads a double life in German discourse. On the one hand, there is the theory of communicative action, coupled with universal pragmatics, and associated with Jürgen Habermas. On the other, there are technical-material theories of communication, derived from the Shannon-Weaver model, and often associated with the name of Friedrich Kittler. Both types of theory converge on a single point: language and media are autonomous and function like an Archimedian point and an a priori. Is it possible to develop a philosophy of the media without following such stances on language and media determinism? This question can be answered in the affirmative only if we reject the thesis that media are autonomous and look at them as heteronomous. The constitutive heteronomy of media is explained from the perspective of a “messenger-model.” Its heuristic value consists in the fact that it rehabilitates and explains the productivity of “transmission” and “transgression” in very different cultural and natural fields. Three messenger-figures are analysed: the religious idea of an angel, the physiological concept of a virus, the juridical and epistemic institution of the witness.

KW - Philosophy

KW - Media and communication studies

KW - Concept of communication

KW - Media theory

KW - Philosophy of theorizing media

UR - https://www.springer.com/de/book/9783319284873

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85013074593&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/978-3-319-28489-7_11

DO - 10.1007/978-3-319-28489-7_11

M3 - Chapter

SN - 978-3-319-28489-7

SP - 197

EP - 213

BT - Media Transatlantic

A2 - , Norm Friesen

PB - Springer

CY - Cham

ER -