Leibniz was the topic of last week’s Readings on Digital Culture class. Although he is often presented as one of the ancestors of modern computing and digital technology, I doubt that is entirely accurate. He made big contributions to metaphysics, logic, law, and mathematics. He was also a social butterfly of his age, connected with a large number of people and writing tens of thousands of letters. From an early age, he seems to have an almost infinite desire for…
Thomas Hobbes’s 1651 work, Leviathan, was written in Paris, where he had fled the English Civil War because of his royalist leanings. In this work, Hobbes defines Leviathan as a strong state authority. To do so, he is compelled to develop certain definitions concerning human and societal nature. In this week’s Digital Culture Readings class, we focused on the fifth chapter of Leviathan, titled “Of Reason, and Science.” While eagerly awaiting my students’ papers, I present my own response paper…
The mandatory course Readings on Digital Culture in the Graduate Program in Architectural Design at Istanbul Bilgi University began with the introductory chapter of Charlie Gere’s Digital Culture. We will write a response paper every week. I have completed my response to the first reading. The reading begins with the parallel development of the Industrial Revolution and capitalism. It then follows this history up to the emergence of today’s computers. It looks at how money gradually became a more abstract…