Transparency is the metaphor of our time. Whether in government or corporate governance, finance, technology, health or the media – it is ubiquitous today, and there is hardly a current debate that does not call for more transparency. But what does this word actually stand for and what are the consequences for the life of individuals? Can knowledge from the arts, and its play of visibility and invisibility, tell us something about the paradoxical logics of transparency and mediation? This O...

Let’s stop criticising or extolling the old value systems. Instead, let’s anticipate the value systems of the future, exploring, expressing, developing and living them here and now. There’s no need for science fiction, the thought of the future is active at this moment right under your nose. Take the side of the plant and a whole new vista opens up.

Presupposing that accidents produce technologies, this book inquires into the forms of power and authority that accidents materialise. For instance, what are the specific accidents of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and pattern recognition systems? And what insights can accidents give about the technology that generates them? Perhaps we can reverse this thinking and see “accidents” as extended forms of functionality, which may be undesired but not entirely dysfunctional. With c...

Joop van Hezik brings philosophy to life, in more ways than one. He shows that the ideology of 'economic growth' is the basis of our modern societies and economies, and even of our sustainable development policies. In this ideology people and nature seem to be merely instruments for economic growth. This results in destruction and the failure of sustainable development policies at all geographical levels. As Van Hezik clearly demonstrates, we need utopian thinking to reflect on the real value...

'Landschap' roept eindeloze verwachtingen en associaties op: er is geen eenduidige, vastomlijnde beschrijving te geven van deze term. Het landschap is daarom uitermate geschikt als uitgangspunt voor filosofische vragen over de dynamiek van culturele centra, de visies van instituten en de evolutie van cultuur in een natuurlijke omgeving. Want van wie is dit land eigenlijk? Wie bezit het? Wie maakte het landschap? Wie bepaalde het culturele ritme? Wie claimt de grond? Dit boek wil deze vragen o...