The entelechies of media: formal and material causality in media ecology
The entelechies of media: formal and material causality in media ecology
Examining Marshall McLuhan’s idiosyncratic adoption of the Aristotelian concept of formal cause, this article contends that McLuhan’s emphasis upon form, and his refusal to engage with the question of materiality, traps his theory within a hylomorphic schema that considers mediation only in terms of its effects upon an audience, thus failing to take into account the configurational attributes of hardware itself. Comparing McLuhan’s media theory to that of Friedrich Kittler, it is argued that the latter offers a valuable rejoinder to such formalism, allowing us to properly consider both the formal and material qualities of media in the digital age.
media theory, materiality, Marshall McLuhan, Friedrich Kittler, formal cause
253-268
Sutherland, Thomas
a9a8e23c-232e-47ca-9be6-abeac690bfb2
1 December 2015
Sutherland, Thomas
a9a8e23c-232e-47ca-9be6-abeac690bfb2
Sutherland, Thomas
(2015)
The entelechies of media: formal and material causality in media ecology.
Explorations in Media Ecology, 13 (3-4), .
Abstract
Examining Marshall McLuhan’s idiosyncratic adoption of the Aristotelian concept of formal cause, this article contends that McLuhan’s emphasis upon form, and his refusal to engage with the question of materiality, traps his theory within a hylomorphic schema that considers mediation only in terms of its effects upon an audience, thus failing to take into account the configurational attributes of hardware itself. Comparing McLuhan’s media theory to that of Friedrich Kittler, it is argued that the latter offers a valuable rejoinder to such formalism, allowing us to properly consider both the formal and material qualities of media in the digital age.
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sutherland_entelechies
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More information
Accepted/In Press date: 24 February 2015
e-pub ahead of print date: 1 July 2015
Published date: 1 December 2015
Keywords:
media theory, materiality, Marshall McLuhan, Friedrich Kittler, formal cause
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 495048
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/495048
ISSN: 1539-7785
PURE UUID: 117d59aa-afa6-4753-b3e0-7170c6e115c2
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Date deposited: 28 Oct 2024 17:51
Last modified: 29 Oct 2024 03:12
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Author:
Thomas Sutherland
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