Understanding Philosophical Media: From Philosophy of Technology to “Technologies of Philosophy”

Abstract In this paper, we introduce the issue of the “technologies of philosophy” into the philosophy of technology discourse. To this end, we rework some assumptions in the contemporary philosophy of technology, particularly postphenomenology, building on the idea that technology is essential to human existence. In Sect. 1, we outline three core roles technology plays in the human lifeform: technological support, mediation and constitution. In Sect. 2, we highlight the importance of extending this model from bodily to cognitive technologies, drawing on recent approaches that advocate for this perspective. In Sect. 3, we propose to apply this framework to philosophical reflection itself, emphasizing the medial oblivion that has affected philosophical self-analysis and how it may foster implicit or explicit forms of technological determinism—particularly concerning the role of alphabetic writing. To address this neglect and counteract the deterministic tendency, we submit a classification of the technologies of philosophy, examining them from both a descriptive (Sect. 4) and a (moderately) normative (Sect. 5) standpoint. Descriptively, we suggest that not only words but also images, the body and things can be considered philosophical media proper. Normatively, we argue that digital technologies, which are nowadays deeply influencing our modes of knowledge production and transmission, challenge the idea that writing is the sole suitable medium for philosophical work, prompting a reconsideration of how philosophy could be done. Thus, our aim is to advocate for a more diverse, potentially “post-alphabetic” view of philosophy in the digital age, one that seeks to explore how engaging with various technologies could lead to new insights into the nature of philosophy itself.