Tonight: Hui on Recursivity and Contingency

12 May

This Spring, the Pittsburgh Continental Philosophy Reading Group will tackle the feedback loops, self-reference, and nomadic turns of cybernetics.

Up Next: May 12 – Lovink, Geert. (2019). “On Recursivity and Contingency: Interview with Yuk Hui.”

Pdfs of the readings can be found: HERE

Please bring a copy (digital or paper) copy of the reading with you to the meeting.

Location: Yinz Coffee in Bloomfield (Liberty Ave), most Tuesday evenings 6:30-8:30pm.

SCHEDULE:

  • Feb. 3 – Tausk, Victor. (1919). “On the origin of the ‘influencing machine’ in schizophrenia.”
  • Feb 10 – Wiener, Norbert. (1950). “What is Cybernetics” in The Human Use of Human Beings;  and Rosenblueth, Arturo, Norbert Wiener, and Julian Bigelow. (1943). “Behavior, Purpose and Teleology”
  • Feb. 17 – Shannon, Claude. (1948). “A mathematical theory of communication”; and McCulloch, Warren, and Walter Pitts, “A Logical Calculus of the Ideas Immanent in Nervous Activity.”
  • Feb. 24 – Canguilhem, Georges. (1947). “Machine and organism.”
  • Mar. 3 – Simondon, Gilbert. (1953). “Epistemology of Cybernetics.”
  • Mar. 10 – Hayles, Katherine. (1999). How We Became Posthuman. Chapter 3.
  • Mar 17 – Lilly, John C. (1968). Programming and metaprogramming in the human biocomputer (excerpt).
  • Mar. 24 – Maturana & Varela. (1970). The Tree of Knowledge (excerpt).
  • Mar. 31 – Brown, George Spencer. (1969) Laws of Form (excerpt); and Dible, Randy. (2025), “Ontopoiesis, Autopoiesis, and a Calculus Intended for Self-Reference”
  • Apr. 7 – Bateson, Gregory. (1972). “Form, Substance, and Difference” in Steps to an Ecology of Mind.
  • Apr. 14 – Deleuze, Gilles. (1980) A Thousand Plateaus (excerpt); and Pickering, Andrew. (2009). “Cybernetics as a nomad science.”
  • Apr. 21 – Wynter, Sylvia. (1984). “The Ceremony Must Be Found: After Humanism”; and optional Vizcaíno, Rafael. (2022). “Sylvia Wynter’s New Science of the Word and the Autopoetics of the Flesh.” 
  • Apr. 28 – von Foerster, Heinz. (2003). Understanding Understanding (excerpts).
  • May 5 – Carstens, Delphi. (2009). “Introduction to Hypersition: An Interview.”; and CCRU. (2015). “Part 2: The Cthulhu Club” in Writings 1997-2003.
  • May 12 – Lovink, Geert. (2019). “On Recursivity and Contingency: Interview with Yuk Hui.”

Tonight: Nick Land and Hyperstition

5 May

This Spring, the Pittsburgh Continental Philosophy Reading Group will tackle the feedback loops, self-reference, and nomadic turns of cybernetics.

Up Next: May 5 – Carstens, Delphi. (2009). “Introduction to Hypersition: An Interview.”; and CCRU. (2015). “Part 2: The Cthulhu Club” in Writings 1997-2003.

Pdfs of the readings can be found: HERE

Please bring a copy (digital or paper) copy of the reading with you to the meeting.

Location: Yinz Coffee in Bloomfield (Liberty Ave), most Tuesday evenings 6:30-8:30pm.

SCHEDULE:

  • Feb. 3 – Tausk, Victor. (1919). “On the origin of the ‘influencing machine’ in schizophrenia.”
  • Feb 10 – Wiener, Norbert. (1950). “What is Cybernetics” in The Human Use of Human Beings;  and Rosenblueth, Arturo, Norbert Wiener, and Julian Bigelow. (1943). “Behavior, Purpose and Teleology”
  • Feb. 17 – Shannon, Claude. (1948). “A mathematical theory of communication”; and McCulloch, Warren, and Walter Pitts, “A Logical Calculus of the Ideas Immanent in Nervous Activity.”
  • Feb. 24 – Canguilhem, Georges. (1947). “Machine and organism.”
  • Mar. 3 – Simondon, Gilbert. (1953). “Epistemology of Cybernetics.”
  • Mar. 10 – Hayles, Katherine. (1999). How We Became Posthuman. Chapter 3.
  • Mar 17 – Lilly, John C. (1968). Programming and metaprogramming in the human biocomputer (excerpt).
  • Mar. 24 – Maturana & Varela. (1970). The Tree of Knowledge (excerpt).
  • Mar. 31 – Brown, George Spencer. (1969) Laws of Form (excerpt); and Dible, Randy. (2025), “Ontopoiesis, Autopoiesis, and a Calculus Intended for Self-Reference”
  • Apr. 7 – Bateson, Gregory. (1972). “Form, Substance, and Difference” in Steps to an Ecology of Mind.
  • Apr. 14 – Deleuze, Gilles. (1980) A Thousand Plateaus (excerpt); and Pickering, Andrew. (2009). “Cybernetics as a nomad science.”
  • Apr. 21 – Wynter, Sylvia. (1984). “The Ceremony Must Be Found: After Humanism”; and optional Vizcaíno, Rafael. (2022). “Sylvia Wynter’s New Science of the Word and the Autopoetics of the Flesh.” 
  • Apr. 28 – von Foerster, Heinz. (2003). Understanding Understanding (excerpts).
  • May 5 – Carstens, Delphi. (2009). “Introduction to Hypersition: An Interview.”; and CCRU. (2015). “Part 2: The Cthulhu Club” in Writings 1997-2003.
  • May 12 – Lovink, Geert. (2019). “On Recursivity and Contingency: Interview with Yuk Hui.”

Pdfs of the readings can be found: HERE

Tonight: von Foerster on Understanding

28 Apr

This Spring, the Pittsburgh Continental Philosophy Reading Group will tackle the feedback loops, self-reference, and nomadic turns of cybernetics.

Up Next: Apr. 28 – von Foerster, Heinz. (2003). Understanding Understanding (excerpts).

Pdfs of the readings can be found: HERE

Please bring a copy (digital or paper) copy of the reading with you to the meeting.

Location: Yinz Coffee in Bloomfield (Liberty Ave), most Tuesday evenings 6:30-8:30pm.

SCHEDULE:

  • Feb. 3 – Tausk, Victor. (1919). “On the origin of the ‘influencing machine’ in schizophrenia.”
  • Feb 10 – Wiener, Norbert. (1950). “What is Cybernetics” in The Human Use of Human Beings;  and Rosenblueth, Arturo, Norbert Wiener, and Julian Bigelow. (1943). “Behavior, Purpose and Teleology”
  • Feb. 17 – Shannon, Claude. (1948). “A mathematical theory of communication”; and McCulloch, Warren, and Walter Pitts, “A Logical Calculus of the Ideas Immanent in Nervous Activity.”
  • Feb. 24 – Canguilhem, Georges. (1947). “Machine and organism.”
  • Mar. 3 – Simondon, Gilbert. (1953). “Epistemology of Cybernetics.”
  • Mar. 10 – Hayles, Katherine. (1999). How We Became Posthuman. Chapter 3.
  • Mar 17 – Lilly, John C. (1968). Programming and metaprogramming in the human biocomputer (excerpt).
  • Mar. 24 – Maturana & Varela. (1970). The Tree of Knowledge (excerpt).
  • Mar. 31 – Brown, George Spencer. (1969) Laws of Form (excerpt); and Dible, Randy. (2025), “Ontopoiesis, Autopoiesis, and a Calculus Intended for Self-Reference”
  • Apr. 7 – Bateson, Gregory. (1972). “Form, Substance, and Difference” in Steps to an Ecology of Mind.
  • Apr. 14 – Deleuze, Gilles. (1980) A Thousand Plateaus (excerpt); and Pickering, Andrew. (2009). “Cybernetics as a nomad science.”
  • Apr. 21 – Wynter, Sylvia. (1984). “The Ceremony Must Be Found: After Humanism”; and optional Vizcaíno, Rafael. (2022). “Sylvia Wynter’s New Science of the Word and the Autopoetics of the Flesh.” 
  • Apr. 28 – von Foerster, Heinz. (2003). Understanding Understanding (excerpts).
  • May 5 – Carstens, Delphi. (2009). “Introduction to Hypersition: An Interview.”; and CCRU. (2015). “Part 2: The Cthulhu Club” in Writings 1997-2003.
  • May 12 – Lovink, Geert. (2019). “On Recursivity and Contingency: Interview with Yuk Hui.”

Pdfs of the readings can be found: HERE

Louis Sass “BETWEEN TWO WORLDS: On Ethics and the Self in Indigenous Mexico”

22 Apr

BETWEEN TWO WORLDS: On Ethics and the Self in Indigenous Mexico

Professor Louis Sass
The Silverman Phenomenology Center
Friday, May 1 at 5:00 pm

Abstract: The religious syncretism of Mesoamerica involves more than a juxtaposing of pre-Hispanic deities with Christian saints. On a more profound level, there is a coexistence or merger of overall viewpoints, mood-visions, or ontological frameworks. I will consider several ways in which ethical visions common in Mexico may differ from the official as well as the everyday ethics of the “modern West”: especially regarding notions of evil and fatalism and ways of tolerating conflict and ambiguity. Affinities with existentialism and implications for selfhood are discussed. The talk is grounded in ethnographic research conducted with indigenous healers in Michoacan, Mexico. 

Professor Sass is Distinguished Professor in the Department of Clinical Psychology, Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP), at Rutgers University. He has published extensively on schizophrenia, phenomenological psychopathology, psychoanalysis, and hermeneutics. He is the author of Madness and Modernism and The Paradoxes of Delusion, works that have transformed the field of phenomenological psychopathology and contemporary approaches to schizophrenia.

Tonight: Wynter’s Autopoetics

21 Apr

This Spring, the Pittsburgh Continental Philosophy Reading Group will tackle the feedback loops, self-reference, and nomadic turns of cybernetics.

Up Next: Apr. 21 – Wynter, Sylvia. (1984). “The Ceremony Must Be Found: After Humanism”; and optional Vizcaíno, Rafael. (2022). “Sylvia Wynter’s New Science of the Word and the Autopoetics of the Flesh.” 

Pdfs of the readings can be found: HERE

Please bring a copy (digital or paper) copy of the reading with you to the meeting.

Location: Yinz Coffee in Bloomfield (Liberty Ave), most Tuesday evenings 6:30-8:30pm.

SCHEDULE:

  • Feb. 3 – Tausk, Victor. (1919). “On the origin of the ‘influencing machine’ in schizophrenia.”
  • Feb 10 – Wiener, Norbert. (1950). “What is Cybernetics” in The Human Use of Human Beings;  and Rosenblueth, Arturo, Norbert Wiener, and Julian Bigelow. (1943). “Behavior, Purpose and Teleology”
  • Feb. 17 – Shannon, Claude. (1948). “A mathematical theory of communication”; and McCulloch, Warren, and Walter Pitts, “A Logical Calculus of the Ideas Immanent in Nervous Activity.”
  • Feb. 24 – Canguilhem, Georges. (1947). “Machine and organism.”
  • Mar. 3 – Simondon, Gilbert. (1953). “Epistemology of Cybernetics.”
  • Mar. 10 – Hayles, Katherine. (1999). How We Became Posthuman. Chapter 3.
  • Mar 17 – Lilly, John C. (1968). Programming and metaprogramming in the human biocomputer (excerpt).
  • Mar. 24 – Maturana & Varela. (1970). The Tree of Knowledge (excerpt).
  • Mar. 31 – Brown, George Spencer. (1969) Laws of Form (excerpt); and Dible, Randy. (2025), “Ontopoiesis, Autopoiesis, and a Calculus Intended for Self-Reference”
  • Apr. 7 – Bateson, Gregory. (1972). “Form, Substance, and Difference” in Steps to an Ecology of Mind.
  • Apr. 14 – Deleuze, Gilles. (1980) A Thousand Plateaus (excerpt); and Pickering, Andrew. (2009). “Cybernetics as a nomad science.”
  • Apr. 21 – Wynter, Sylvia. (1984). “The Ceremony Must Be Found: After Humanism”; and optional Vizcaíno, Rafael. (2022). “Sylvia Wynter’s New Science of the Word and the Autopoetics of the Flesh.” 
  • Apr. 28 – von Foerster, Heinz. (2003). Understanding Understanding (excerpts).
  • May 5 – Carstens, Delphi. (2009). “Introduction to Hypersition: An Interview.”; and CCRU. (2015). “Part 2: The Cthulhu Club” in Writings 1997-2003.
  • May 12 – Lovink, Geert. (2019). “On Recursivity and Contingency: Interview with Yuk Hui.”

Pdfs of the readings can be found: HERE

Tonight: Cybernetics as a Nomad Science

14 Apr

This Spring, the Pittsburgh Continental Philosophy Reading Group will tackle the feedback loops, self-reference, and nomadic turns of cybernetics.

Up Next: Apr. 14 – Deleuze, Gilles. (1980) A Thousand Plateaus (excerpt); and Pickering, Andrew. (2009). “Cybernetics as a nomad science.”

Pdfs of the readings can be found: HERE

Please bring a copy (digital or paper) copy of the reading with you to the meeting.

Location: Yinz Coffee in Bloomfield (Liberty Ave), most Tuesday evenings 6:30-8:30pm.

SCHEDULE:

  • Feb. 3 – Tausk, Victor. (1919). “On the origin of the ‘influencing machine’ in schizophrenia.”
  • Feb 10 – Wiener, Norbert. (1950). “What is Cybernetics” in The Human Use of Human Beings;  and Rosenblueth, Arturo, Norbert Wiener, and Julian Bigelow. (1943). “Behavior, Purpose and Teleology”
  • Feb. 17 – Shannon, Claude. (1948). “A mathematical theory of communication”; and McCulloch, Warren, and Walter Pitts, “A Logical Calculus of the Ideas Immanent in Nervous Activity.”
  • Feb. 24 – Canguilhem, Georges. (1947). “Machine and organism.”
  • Mar. 3 – Simondon, Gilbert. (1953). “Epistemology of Cybernetics.”
  • Mar. 10 – Hayles, Katherine. (1999). How We Became Posthuman. Chapter 3.
  • Mar 17 – Lilly, John C. (1968). Programming and metaprogramming in the human biocomputer (excerpt).
  • Mar. 24 – Maturana & Varela. (1970). The Tree of Knowledge (excerpt).
  • Mar. 31 – Brown, George Spencer. (1969) Laws of Form (excerpt); and Dible, Randy. (2025), “Ontopoiesis, Autopoiesis, and a Calculus Intended for Self-Reference”
  • Apr. 7 – Bateson, Gregory. (1972). “Form, Substance, and Difference” in Steps to an Ecology of Mind.
  • Apr. 14 – Deleuze, Gilles. (1980) A Thousand Plateaus (excerpt); and Pickering, Andrew. (2009). “Cybernetics as a nomad science.”
  • Apr. 21 – Wynter, Sylvia. (1984). “The Ceremony Must Be Found: After Humanism”; and optional Vizcaíno, Rafael. (2022). “Sylvia Wynter’s New Science of the Word and the Autopoetics of the Flesh.” 
  • Apr. 28 – von Foerster, Heinz. (2003). Understanding Understanding (excerpts).
  • May 5 – Carstens, Delphi. (2009). “Introduction to Hypersition: An Interview.”; and CCRU. (2015). “Part 2: The Cthulhu Club” in Writings 1997-2003.
  • May 12 – Lovink, Geert. (2019). “On Recursivity and Contingency: Interview with Yuk Hui.”

Pdfs of the readings can be found: HERE

Next Week: Cybernetics and Nomadic Science

10 Apr

This Spring, the Pittsburgh Continental Philosophy Reading Group will tackle the feedback loops, self-reference, and nomadic turns of cybernetics.

Up Next: Apr. 14 – Deleuze, Gilles. (1980) A Thousand Plateaus (excerpt); and Pickering, Andrew. (2009). “Cybernetics as a nomad science.”

Pdfs of the readings can be found: HERE

Please bring a copy (digital or paper) copy of the reading with you to the meeting.

Location: Yinz Coffee in Bloomfield (Liberty Ave), most Tuesday evenings 6:30-8:30pm.

SCHEDULE:

  • Feb. 3 – Tausk, Victor. (1919). “On the origin of the ‘influencing machine’ in schizophrenia.”
  • Feb 10 – Wiener, Norbert. (1950). “What is Cybernetics” in The Human Use of Human Beings;  and Rosenblueth, Arturo, Norbert Wiener, and Julian Bigelow. (1943). “Behavior, Purpose and Teleology”
  • Feb. 17 – Shannon, Claude. (1948). “A mathematical theory of communication”; and McCulloch, Warren, and Walter Pitts, “A Logical Calculus of the Ideas Immanent in Nervous Activity.”
  • Feb. 24 – Canguilhem, Georges. (1947). “Machine and organism.”
  • Mar. 3 – Simondon, Gilbert. (1953). “Epistemology of Cybernetics.”
  • Mar. 10 – Hayles, Katherine. (1999). How We Became Posthuman. Chapter 3.
  • Mar 17 – Lilly, John C. (1968). Programming and metaprogramming in the human biocomputer (excerpt).
  • Mar. 24 – Maturana & Varela. (1970). The Tree of Knowledge (excerpt).
  • Mar. 31 – Brown, George Spencer. (1969) Laws of Form (excerpt); and Dible, Randy. (2025), “Ontopoiesis, Autopoiesis, and a Calculus Intended for Self-Reference”
  • Apr. 7 – Bateson, Gregory. (1972). “Form, Substance, and Difference” in Steps to an Ecology of Mind.
  • Apr. 14 – Deleuze, Gilles. (1980) A Thousand Plateaus (excerpt); and Pickering, Andrew. (2009). “Cybernetics as a nomad science.”
  • Apr. 21 – Wynter, Sylvia. (1984). “The Ceremony Must Be Found: After Humanism”; and optional Vizcaíno, Rafael. (2022). “Sylvia Wynter’s New Science of the Word and the Autopoetics of the Flesh.” 
  • Apr. 28 – von Foerster, Heinz. (2003). Understanding Understanding (excerpts).
  • May 5 – Carstens, Delphi. (2009). “Introduction to Hypersition: An Interview.”; and CCRU. (2015). “Part 2: The Cthulhu Club” in Writings 1997-2003.
  • May 12 – Lovink, Geert. (2019). “On Recursivity and Contingency: Interview with Yuk Hui.”

Pdfs of the readings can be found: HERE

Tonight: Bateson’s Ecology of Mind

7 Apr

This Spring, the Pittsburgh Continental Philosophy Reading Group will tackle the feedback loops, self-reference, and nomadic turns of cybernetics.

Up Next: Apr. 7 – Bateson, Gregory. (1972). “Form, Substance, and Difference” in Steps to an Ecology of Mind.

Pdfs of the readings can be found: HERE

Please bring a copy (digital or paper) copy of the reading with you to the meeting.

Location: Yinz Coffee in Bloomfield (Liberty Ave), most Tuesday evenings 6:30-8:30pm.

SCHEDULE:

  • Feb. 3 – Tausk, Victor. (1919). “On the origin of the ‘influencing machine’ in schizophrenia.”
  • Feb 10 – Wiener, Norbert. (1950). “What is Cybernetics” in The Human Use of Human Beings;  and Rosenblueth, Arturo, Norbert Wiener, and Julian Bigelow. (1943). “Behavior, Purpose and Teleology”
  • Feb. 17 – Shannon, Claude. (1948). “A mathematical theory of communication”; and McCulloch, Warren, and Walter Pitts, “A Logical Calculus of the Ideas Immanent in Nervous Activity.”
  • Feb. 24 – Canguilhem, Georges. (1947). “Machine and organism.”
  • Mar. 3 – Simondon, Gilbert. (1953). “Epistemology of Cybernetics.”
  • Mar. 10 – Hayles, Katherine. (1999). How We Became Posthuman. Chapter 3.
  • Mar 17 – Lilly, John C. (1968). Programming and metaprogramming in the human biocomputer (excerpt).
  • Mar. 24 – Maturana & Varela. (1970). The Tree of Knowledge (excerpt).
  • Mar. 31 – Brown, George Spencer. (1969) Laws of Form (excerpt); and Dible, Randy. (2025), “Ontopoiesis, Autopoiesis, and a Calculus Intended for Self-Reference”
  • Apr. 7 – Bateson, Gregory. (1972). “Form, Substance, and Difference” in Steps to an Ecology of Mind.
  • Apr. 14 – Deleuze, Gilles. (1980) A Thousand Plateaus (excerpt); and Pickering, Andrew. (2009). “Cybernetics as a nomad science.”
  • Apr. 21 – Wynter, Sylvia. (1984). “The Ceremony Must Be Found: After Humanism”; and optional Vizcaíno, Rafael. (2022). “Sylvia Wynter’s New Science of the Word and the Autopoetics of the Flesh.” 
  • Apr. 28 – von Foerster, Heinz. (2003). Understanding Understanding (excerpts).
  • May 5 – Carstens, Delphi. (2009). “Introduction to Hypersition: An Interview.”; and CCRU. (2015). “Part 2: The Cthulhu Club” in Writings 1997-2003.
  • May 12 – Lovink, Geert. (2019). “On Recursivity and Contingency: Interview with Yuk Hui.”

Pdfs of the readings can be found: HERE

Next Week: George Spencer Brown’s Laws of Form

27 Mar

This Spring, the Pittsburgh Continental Philosophy Reading Group will tackle the feedback loops, self-reference, and nomadic turns of cybernetics.

Up Next: Mar. 31 – Brown, George Spencer. (1969) Laws of Form (excerpt); and Dible, Randy. (2025), “Ontopoiesis, Autopoiesis, and a Calculus Intended for Self-Reference”; Optional: War Machine Podcast – Randy Dible /// Laws of Form

Pdfs of the readings can be found: HERE

Please bring a copy (digital or paper) copy of the reading with you to the meeting.

Location: Yinz Coffee in Bloomfield (Liberty Ave), most Tuesday evenings 6:30-8:30pm.

SCHEDULE:

  • Feb. 3 – Tausk, Victor. (1919). “On the origin of the ‘influencing machine’ in schizophrenia.”
  • Feb 10 – Wiener, Norbert. (1950). “What is Cybernetics” in The Human Use of Human Beings;  and Rosenblueth, Arturo, Norbert Wiener, and Julian Bigelow. (1943). “Behavior, Purpose and Teleology”
  • Feb. 17 – Shannon, Claude. (1948). “A mathematical theory of communication”; and McCulloch, Warren, and Walter Pitts, “A Logical Calculus of the Ideas Immanent in Nervous Activity.”
  • Feb. 24 – Canguilhem, Georges. (1947). “Machine and organism.”
  • Mar. 3 – Simondon, Gilbert. (1953). “Epistemology of Cybernetics.”
  • Mar. 10 – Hayles, Katherine. (1999). How We Became Posthuman. Chapter 3.
  • Mar 17 – Lilly, John C. (1968). Programming and metaprogramming in the human biocomputer (excerpt).
  • Mar. 24 – Maturana & Varela. (1970). The Tree of Knowledge (excerpt).
  • Mar. 31 – Brown, George Spencer. (1969) Laws of Form (excerpt); and Dible, Randy. (2025), “Ontopoiesis, Autopoiesis, and a Calculus Intended for Self-Reference”
  • Apr. 7 – Bateson, Gregory. (1972). “Form, Substance, and Difference” in Steps to an Ecology of Mind.
  • Apr. 14 – Deleuze, Gilles. (1980) A Thousand Plateaus (excerpt); and Pickering, Andrew. (2009). “Cybernetics as a nomad science.”
  • Apr. 21 – Wynter, Sylvia. (1984). “The Ceremony Must Be Found: After Humanism”; and optional Vizcaíno, Rafael. (2022). “Sylvia Wynter’s New Science of the Word and the Autopoetics of the Flesh.” 
  • Apr. 28 – von Foerster, Heinz. (2003). Understanding Understanding (excerpts).
  • May 5 – Carstens, Delphi. (2009). “Introduction to Hypersition: An Interview.”; and CCRU. (2015). “Part 2: The Cthulhu Club” in Writings 1997-2003.
  • May 12 – Lovink, Geert. (2019). “On Recursivity and Contingency: Interview with Yuk Hui.”

Pdfs of the readings can be found: HERE

Tonight: Maturana and Varela on Autopoesis

24 Mar

This Spring, the Pittsburgh Continental Philosophy Reading Group will tackle the feedback loops, self-reference, and nomadic turns of cybernetics.

Up Next: Mar. 24 – Maturana & Varela. (1970). The Tree of Knowledge (excerpt).

Pdfs of the readings can be found: HERE

Please bring a copy (digital or paper) copy of the reading with you to the meeting.

Location: Yinz Coffee in Bloomfield (Liberty Ave), most Tuesday evenings 6:30-8:30pm.

SCHEDULE:

  • Feb. 3 – Tausk, Victor. (1919). “On the origin of the ‘influencing machine’ in schizophrenia.”
  • Feb 10 – Wiener, Norbert. (1950). “What is Cybernetics” in The Human Use of Human Beings;  and Rosenblueth, Arturo, Norbert Wiener, and Julian Bigelow. (1943). “Behavior, Purpose and Teleology”
  • Feb. 17 – Shannon, Claude. (1948). “A mathematical theory of communication”; and McCulloch, Warren, and Walter Pitts, “A Logical Calculus of the Ideas Immanent in Nervous Activity.”
  • Feb. 24 – Canguilhem, Georges. (1947). “Machine and organism.”
  • Mar. 3 – Simondon, Gilbert. (1953). “Epistemology of Cybernetics.”
  • Mar. 10 – Hayles, Katherine. (1999). How We Became Posthuman. Chapter 3.
  • Mar 17 – Lilly, John C. (1968). Programming and metaprogramming in the human biocomputer (excerpt).
  • Mar. 24 – Maturana & Varela. (1970). The Tree of Knowledge (excerpt).
  • Mar. 31 – Brown, George Spencer. (1969) Laws of Form (excerpt); and Dible, Randy. (2025), “Ontopoiesis, Autopoiesis, and a Calculus Intended for Self-Reference”
  • Apr. 7 – Bateson, Gregory. (1972). “Form, Substance, and Difference” in Steps to an Ecology of Mind.
  • Apr. 14 – Deleuze, Gilles. (1980) A Thousand Plateaus (excerpt); and Pickering, Andrew. (2009). “Cybernetics as a nomad science.”
  • Apr. 21 – Wynter, Sylvia. (1984). “The Ceremony Must Be Found: After Humanism”; and optional Vizcaíno, Rafael. (2022). “Sylvia Wynter’s New Science of the Word and the Autopoetics of the Flesh.” 
  • Apr. 28 – von Foerster, Heinz. (2003). Understanding Understanding (excerpts).
  • May 5 – Carstens, Delphi. (2009). “Introduction to Hypersition: An Interview.”; and CCRU. (2015). “Part 2: The Cthulhu Club” in Writings 1997-2003.
  • May 12 – Lovink, Geert. (2019). “On Recursivity and Contingency: Interview with Yuk Hui.”

Pdfs of the readings can be found: HERE