[SydPhil] UOW Agora Speaker Series — Mads Dengsø (UOW) — Thursday 18 September, 3.30pm

[Elena Walsh]

Dear all,



The next seminar in the series will be:



Dr. Mads Dengsø (UOW)

Gilgamesh on the technocene: ancient epic as a reflection on technology

Thursday, September 18, 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm

Building 20, Room 3, University of Wollongong (Keiraville campus)



Abstract

Can “the first epic” shed light on our current technological age?
Philosophy has traditionally tended to sharply separate the realms of
philosophical and scientific knowledge from technology. This separation of
episteme and techne is today meeting with increasing pressure from
cognitive anthropological research as well as from the ongoing impact of
technology in shaping human thought. The influence of technology in shaping
human worlds and human minds alike raises the question of what relevance
ancient sources could hold for us today. Can insights from ancient sources
apply to today’s technocene age? In this talk I will argue that the Epic of
Gilgamesh offers a critical reflection on technology pertinent our
technocene existence. In spite of its renown as the oldest known epic, the
Gilgamesh offers crucial insights into the promises and risks of
technology. I will explore the Epic’s depiction of technology through
structural and metatextual devices. I will show how the ancient epic
scrutinizes the deep relationship between human life and technology through
the two contrasting perspectives of Gilgamesh and Enkidu.



Bio

My main area of research is in the philosophy of cognitive science. I am
currently working as an associate lecturer at the University of Wollongong
where I completed my PhD thesis in 2024. My work concentrates on the
distributed organization of cognition in individual and collective systems
as well as how the latter shapes our ideas about the former. What is the
role of sociotechnological (health, educational, and scientific)
institutions in shaping individual notions of agency? My research is
informed by theoretical frameworks from phenomenology, science studies, and
4E approaches to cognition.



This is an in-person event and there is no need to register. All welcome.


-- 

*Dr. Elena Walsh*

Lecturer

School of Liberal Arts

Faculty of the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities | 94.19

University of Wollongong NSW 2522 Australia

*T *+61 2 4220 5692

*W *elenawalsh.squarespace.com
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