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Politics

Vilém Flusser sees politics in many different ways. Political engagement often presupposes abandoning one’s true calling (Bodenlos, 1992, p. 155). It is possible to make a distinction between politics in the Jewish tradition and the Greek meaning of politics. In Judaism, politics is not the quest for a perfect society, but rather the search that reveals the Sabbat (Messiah) (ibid., p. 181). Politics can be an administrative practice when public life is in contrast to other aspects of a person’s personality (ibid., pp. 187, 190–196). In this sense, politics would be a kind of socialization, like in the family or in clubs (The History of the Devil, 2014, p. 137).

The images circulating among us feed on politics (Into the Universe of Technical Images, 2011, pp. 55–56). That is why today’s cultural revolution is technical and not political in the traditional sense of the word. Political revolution came after the technological revolution. To be politically engaged implies to be engaged in a technological way and, precisely because of this, all future engagement must cease to be anthropocentric. Potential political engagement emerges from inside the technological revolution (ibid., pp. 64–65). This takes us to a new concept of the artist, where art comprises science, politics, and philosophy (“Gesellschaftsspiele,” in: KUNST- FORUM International, vol. 116, 1991). When political science is understood as art, the notion of a “pure artist” has become an anachronism.

In consequence, in developed societies the word politics deviates more and more from the ethics and values in aesthetics and art, and politics becomes a synonym of creativity (Into the Universe of Technical Images, p. 124). If we do not engage with these new concepts of politics, where the boundaries between public and private disappear, we will remain stuck in the old sense of politics (ibid., p. 129). If we do not create new authentic vehicles, religiousness will be taken over by political parties (Da Religiosidade, 2002, p. 20).

Original article by Rodrigo Petronio in Flusseriana

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politics.txt · Last modified: 2023/04/13 17:06 by steffi_winkler