The philosophy of hacking: Contemplations on the essence of hacking and its implications on hacker ethics

Presented at 30C3 (2013), Dec. 30, 2013, 1 p.m. (30 minutes).

Modern society's use of technology as an instrument for domination is deeply problematic. Are instrumentality and domination inherent to the essence of technology? Can hacking provide an alternative approach to technology which can overcome this? How do art and beauty fit into this approach? In order to understand the essence of hacking, it is important to first critically examine the essence of (modern) technology and the rationalization of technological development. Because for all the wonderful things technology has given us, it has also brought us a vast array of instruments for domination, ranging from nuclear warheads to the panoptic surveillance state. As a community that is so deeply involved with technology, it is imperative for us to comprehend that these developments did not come out of thin air and that we have the choice to follow a different path. Understanding Heideggers notion of enframing as the product of historical rationalization gives us an insight in the relation between the objective, scientific approach to technology and its instrumentalization as a means for domination. Yet it also highlights the subversive potential of hacker cultures. The hackers' playful curiosity and desire to express creativity within the computer-imposed frameworks of formal logic has the potential to transcend code into poetry, reconnecting techne with poiesis and mapping the road towards the revealing nature of technology. Hacking has the potential to elevate abstract technological mechanisms and relations dissociated from the individuality to the plane of the utmost concrete and subjective images. As the creative output of the hacker both adheres to the formal methods of boolean logic and at the same time challenges them by devoiding them of their rational finalities, the positivist rationale of what we hold to be most objective can be turned into an expression of the subject. I will argue that this repositioning of the subject provides the basis for transforming the technological rationale into one that is aimed at liberation.

Presenters:

• groente
  Groente is a long-time member of PUSCII, one of the dutch first proto-hackerspaces. With a background in autonomist activism, his interests include philosophy, ethics, the socio-political aspects of technology and the Commodore 64.

Links:

• https://fahrplan.events.ccc.de/congress/2013/Fahrplan/events/5278.html

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