Unweaving the Program: Stiegler and the Hegemony of Technics

Abstract

This paper examines the empirical and historical aspects of Bernard Stiegler’s philosophy of technology, arguing that it consolidates, rather than challenges, a number of traditional ontological distinctions; in particular, those between living and technological, genetic and non-genetic, and nature and culture. The two main foci of criticism are Stiegler’s historical claims regarding the trajectory of technological development, and his questionable use of informatic models and writing metaphors to think about technics. The notion of ‘program’ is examined, as well as its applicability in the context of enculturation. Finally, the paper offers an alternative myth of technics that aims to rescue what Stiegler’s philosophy forgets: the irreducible heterogeneity of technology.