On the Imaginal Edge of Technologies

Introduction to Imagining Technologies / Technologizing Imagination(s) – Vol. 1

Abstract

We find it appropriate to begin this introduction by explaining a variation from our initial project. The quantity and quality of the proposals we received convinced us to double this issue of I Castelli di Yale, dividing it into two volumes: the first – titled On the Imaginal Edge of Technologies – is the one introduced by these lines, while the next will be published by spring of next year. This change in plans represents the best acknowledgment of the value of our proposal to dedicate an ad hoc investigation to the intimate relationship between imagination and technology. More specifically, the role that imagination plays in understanding our involvement in an increasingly technological world, namely in a context where the technisches Zeitalter theorized by philosophical reflection nearly a century ago has since taken on the guise of a "techno-sphere," "techno-cosm," or even "techno-cene": the brand new oikos or living space within which the conditio humana must find its place...