Heidegger and the Media

David Gunkel is professor of communication at Northern Illinois University. He is the managing editor of the ‘International Journal of Zizek Studies'. Paul A. Taylor is associate professor in the Institute of Communication Studies at the University of Leeds.His previous publications include Zizek and the Media (Polity, 2011). He is the General Editor of the 'International Journal of Zizek Studies' and Editorial Board Member of the 'International Journal of Baudrillard Studies', 'Fast Capitalism' and the 'International Journal of Badiou Studies'.

• Introduction1 We Need to Talk About Media2 Mediated Truth3 In Media Res4 The Dasign of Media Apps: The Questions Concerning New TechnologiesConclusion

"At last, a long overdue account of Heidegger's profound relevance for understanding contemporary media. Gunkel and Taylor shed powerful light onto the philosophical corners of media and cultural studies that more timid scholars have stubbornly failed to reach. Neither Heidegger studies nor media studies will remain the same after the impact of this immensely engaging theoretical tour de force!"—Slavoj Zizek, International Director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities, London"Gunkel and Taylor reveal an unacknowledged dimension of Heidegger’s media theory which contradicts the predominant understanding of his work. They argue that there is something to be found in Heidegger's thought which prevents one from succumbing to a widespread illusion – the illusion of the neutrality of technique, what McLuhan later called 'the current somnambulism'. Thus, a profoundly productive, critical dimension in Heidegger's theory becomes accessible which stands in harsh opposition to the 'somnambulism' that this philosopher himself performed in his utterly problematic personal, ideological existence. Gunkel and Taylor perspicuously show how Heidegger could have done better, had he more carefully listened to his own findings. And we? We definitely can: under the condition that we do."—Robert Pfaller, International Director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities"[T]his book does not read as if it is an exhaustive study in the convergence of Heidegger's philosophy and the study of media. Rather it is an exciting crash course in both fields with an eye on the possibilities at their intersection."—Jared Smith, Logical Analysis and History of Philosophy