The Transparency Society

Byung-Chul Han

Published by Stanford University Press 2015

The Transparency Society

Byung-Chul Han

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780804797511

Overview
Contents

About this book

Transparency is the order of the day. It is a term, a slogan, that dominates public discourse about corruption and freedom of information. Considered crucial to democracy, it touches our political and economic lives as well as our private lives. Anyone can obtain information about anything. Everything—and everyone—has become transparent: unveiled or exposed by the apparatuses that exert a kind of collective control over the post-capitalist world.

Yet, transparency has a dark side that, ironically, has everything to do with a lack of mystery, shadow, and nuance. Behind the apparent accessibility of knowledge lies the disappearance of privacy, homogenization, and the collapse of trust. The anxiety to accumulate ever more information does not necessarily produce more knowledge or faith. Technology creates the illusion of total containment and the constant monitoring of information, but what we lack is adequate interpretation of the information. In this manifesto, Byung-Chul Han denounces transparency as a false ideal, the strongest and most pernicious of our contemporary mythologies.

Author / Editor information

Korean-born German philosopher Byung-Chul Han teaches philosophy and cultural studies at Berlin's University of the Arts (UdK). In the past few years, his provocative essays have been translated into numerous languages, and he has become one of the most widely read philosophers in Europe and beyond. His work is presented here in English for the first time.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
The Society of Positivity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
The Society of Exhibition Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	9
The Society of Evidence Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	15
The Society of Pornography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	21
The Society of Acceleration Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	29
The Society of Intimacy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	34
The Society of Information Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	37
The Society of Unveiling Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	42
The Society of Control Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	45
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	51

Language: English
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 72

eBook

Published: August 19, 2015
ISBN: 9780804797511