Machine Ontology. The Splendors and Miseries of Machinism.

The machine is an intermediary between the natural reality and the impossible reality up to a point. Therefore, understanding this phenomenon in the ontological dimension is a necessary element in the analysis of the problems of both the present and the future. In the philosophy of the 20th and 21s...

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Main Author: Svetlana V. Obolkina
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Philosophy and Law 2023-10-01
Series:Антиномии
Subjects:
Online Access:http://yearbook.uran.ru/images/files/Ant_3_23_20_41.pdf
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author Svetlana V. Obolkina
author_facet Svetlana V. Obolkina
author_sort Svetlana V. Obolkina
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description The machine is an intermediary between the natural reality and the impossible reality up to a point. Therefore, understanding this phenomenon in the ontological dimension is a necessary element in the analysis of the problems of both the present and the future. In the philosophy of the 20th and 21st centuries, the concept of a machine is very relevant. Machinism develops around it as a worldview and philosophical direction. However, the machine remains “understandable by default” for it: this concept acts as a tool for analyzing society, culture or the psyche. This turns out to be possible by ignoring a significant part of the semantic spectrum of μηχανή. The exception is the mechanology of Jacques Lafitte and Gilbert Simondon, which is interested in the machine as a particular invention. In this article, the methodology of machine analysis relies on the object-oriented ontology by Ian Bogost. Based on the conducted research, a number of conclusions has been made. Firstly, it is possible to talk about the identity of reality and the machine only for the basic ontological level; a person has created an artifact, which is an objectified ontological constituent. However, at the next, higher level, this identity falls apart: the machine is what it is, because it does not coincide with natural reality being distinguished by the nature of its existence. The invention of the machine is an ontological work in its nature: it is the creation of an interaction system of onedimensional spaces. In its reasoning, machinism does not take into account these conceptual points using the machine as a metaphor. Therefore, its conceptual resources interfere with the understanding of modern machines and their interaction with humans. Secondly, some modern inventions in the field of generative artificial intelligence are new types of machines (non-classical machines) that include the factor of probability and ambiguity as an element of the mechanism. Human invention is reaching a new ontological level, which requires an updated conceptual toolkit.
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spelling doaj.art-819f5f7a594c43eabb736f2fd80d9bd12023-12-29T10:26:35ZengUral Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Philosophy and LawАнтиномии2686-72062686-925X2023-10-012332041https://doi.org/10.17506/26867206_2023_23_3_20Machine Ontology. The Splendors and Miseries of Machinism.Svetlana V. Obolkina0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6644-104XInstitute of Philosophy and Law of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of SciencesThe machine is an intermediary between the natural reality and the impossible reality up to a point. Therefore, understanding this phenomenon in the ontological dimension is a necessary element in the analysis of the problems of both the present and the future. In the philosophy of the 20th and 21st centuries, the concept of a machine is very relevant. Machinism develops around it as a worldview and philosophical direction. However, the machine remains “understandable by default” for it: this concept acts as a tool for analyzing society, culture or the psyche. This turns out to be possible by ignoring a significant part of the semantic spectrum of μηχανή. The exception is the mechanology of Jacques Lafitte and Gilbert Simondon, which is interested in the machine as a particular invention. In this article, the methodology of machine analysis relies on the object-oriented ontology by Ian Bogost. Based on the conducted research, a number of conclusions has been made. Firstly, it is possible to talk about the identity of reality and the machine only for the basic ontological level; a person has created an artifact, which is an objectified ontological constituent. However, at the next, higher level, this identity falls apart: the machine is what it is, because it does not coincide with natural reality being distinguished by the nature of its existence. The invention of the machine is an ontological work in its nature: it is the creation of an interaction system of onedimensional spaces. In its reasoning, machinism does not take into account these conceptual points using the machine as a metaphor. Therefore, its conceptual resources interfere with the understanding of modern machines and their interaction with humans. Secondly, some modern inventions in the field of generative artificial intelligence are new types of machines (non-classical machines) that include the factor of probability and ambiguity as an element of the mechanism. Human invention is reaching a new ontological level, which requires an updated conceptual toolkit.http://yearbook.uran.ru/images/files/Ant_3_23_20_41.pdfmachineinventionmachinismmechanismphilosophy of the machinemachine ontologynon-classical machineartificial intelligenceneural network
spellingShingle Svetlana V. Obolkina
Machine Ontology. The Splendors and Miseries of Machinism.
Антиномии
machine
invention
machinism
mechanism
philosophy of the machine
machine ontology
non-classical machine
artificial intelligence
neural network
title Machine Ontology. The Splendors and Miseries of Machinism.
title_full Machine Ontology. The Splendors and Miseries of Machinism.
title_fullStr Machine Ontology. The Splendors and Miseries of Machinism.
title_full_unstemmed Machine Ontology. The Splendors and Miseries of Machinism.
title_short Machine Ontology. The Splendors and Miseries of Machinism.
title_sort machine ontology the splendors and miseries of machinism
topic machine
invention
machinism
mechanism
philosophy of the machine
machine ontology
non-classical machine
artificial intelligence
neural network
url http://yearbook.uran.ru/images/files/Ant_3_23_20_41.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT svetlanavobolkina machineontologythesplendorsandmiseriesofmachinism