Thinking Otherwise by Gunkel, David J.;

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Thinking Otherwise is a unique and revealing look at the philosophical dimensions of information and communication technology (ICT). Among thinkers, the importance of what transpires within the virtual world is the effect these activities have on real human beings who exist outside of and beyond the computer-generated virtual environment. Obviously, the result of ICT interactions can lead to good or bad outcomes. Gunkel, however, is not concerned about deciding which argument is more compelling, but how these arguments are organised, articulated and configured. This approach entails challenging, criticizing and even changing the terms and conditions of the discourse itself. For example, the binary nature of computer logic tends to colour debate about subsequent issues by portraying each side as the antithesis of the other. That is, the switch is turned on or off. Thinking Otherwise investigates the unique quandaries, complications and possibilities introduced by a form of otherness that veils, through technology, the identity of the Other. Therefore, Gunkel formulates alternative ways of proceeding to take into account additional forms of otherness. Gunkel submits traditional forms of philosophical reasoning to a critical reevaluation caused by opportunities made available with information technology and also develops alternative ways of thinking that are oriented otherwise.

Thinking Otherwise will become a classic like Jacques Elluls Technological Society and Jean Baudrillards Simulations. This erudite and innovative book totally reorients out thinking away from binary logic. The philosophical dimensions of information and communication technology have never been outlined better. The author is bilingual, knowing both philosophy and ICTs with brilliance. His critique of digital reason and his machine-as-other turn ethics on its head. In this post-metaphysical age sceptical of the humanities. Thinking Otherwise demonstrates perfectly how the history of ideas opens up an alternative pathway. Clifford G. Christians, Charles H. Sandage Distinguished Professor and Research Professor of Communications, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign