[Co-posted at technophilia]
In the book of interviews “The hypermaterial economy and psychopower” [Économie de l’hypermatériel et pyschopouvoir], Bernard Stiegler (with Philip Petit and Vincent Bontems) works through and explicates a range of the political-economic and socio-technical issues he feels are most pressing in the contemporary milieu. In the interviews Stiegler ties together his more ontological arguments concerning the co-constitution of the human/technology with his wide-ranging critique of political economy. At the heart of these arguments are the related issues of sublimation in a libidinal economy (the translation of libidinal energy into social objects) and the hypermaterial nature of our material supports (technology, taken in the broadest sense). Stiegler argues for a revitalisation of the economy by better translating our desires into more fulfilling outcomes, rather than submitting to mindless consumption. This is more an evolutionary rather than a revolutionary imperative, as can also be seen by the manifesto of the campaigning organisation Stiegler co-founded, Ars Industrialis.
At the beginning of the book, one of the interviewers in the book, the philosopher Philip Petit, has written an introduction to Stiegler’s project and to the areas of discussion covered in the three interviews. Petit’s short introductory essay, ‘the Wager of sublimation’ (Le Pari de la sublimation), is a useful, if playful, introduction to the life and work of Stiegler. I offer here a translation of Petit’s introductory essay: The Wager of Sublimation [PDF], I hope it is of interest and perhaps of use. I would like to particularly thank Patrick Crogan for his significant and invaluable help in honing the translation of this piece. Continue reading “The Wager of Sublimation (translation), Petit on Stiegler”