A Transjective-Holobiontic Rhetoric (THR)

This paper introduces Transjective-Holobiont Rhetoric (THR), a posthumanist framework that conceptualises algorithms as simultaneously embodying three qualities: transjective, holobiontic, and rhetorical by design. Algorithms are transjective in that they are both materially and subjectively constituted; holobiontic in that they are built upon co-evolutionary assemblages of various kinds of data, processing techniques and logical frameworks, and rhetorical in that they are purpose-driven by design. Given this, THR emphasises the recursive, symbiotic relationship between human agency and algorithmic task-orientedness as it pertains to shaping decision-making processes, influencing behaviour, and co-constructing realities in digital environments. THR advocates for context-sensitive approaches to ethical governance that recognise the co-constitutive nature of human-machine interactions in shaping moral outcomes.