Dun Mikiel Xerri Lecture Centre (LC) Room 119, University of Malta (number 25 on the campus map)

This is the third of a series of sessions that the Philosophy Postgraduate Reading Group (PPRG) in conjunction with the Department of Philosophy will organise throughout this academic year 2015/16. 

In a culture that holds efficiency as an ethos, electronic surveillance has become a prominent feature of today’s society. The encounter with the human individual within such a state is one that reduces him to data; in its attempt to keep track of him within the virtual world that he inhabits, the system constructs a digital profile of the individual and categorises him accordingly. The resultant state, where man is no longer primarily met on a human dimension, is possibly one where objectlessness prevails. The question of who man essentially is, is superseded by that which is solely concerned with what he does. Bringing Heidegger’s critique of technology to an analysis of the rise of electronic surveillance, the paper explores the extent to which the condition of objectlessness can be considered a characteristic of the surveillance society. It seeks to determine the possibility of responsibility in such a scenario by drawing on a parallelism between Levinas’s face of the Other and Blanchot’s space of literature, as the place where transcendence of this perceived objectlessness could occur. This is succeeded by an analysis of the assumed implications underlying the development of the argument, whereby the discussion links back to Heidegger’s philosophy and to the conclusion that objectlessness is not, indeed, to be taken as the defining feature of the surveillance society. Thus, the space for responsibility within today’s society is retained. 

This reading group is intended for current and recent postgraduates, doctoral students and academics researching within or bordering the field of philosophy. The aim is to have a speaker lead a session, presenting one's research or work in progress. The speaker can also propose a text (10-20 pages) written by a thinker s/he is familiar with or has written a dissertation about, which the group will then analyse and debate. Prior to the meeting, participants are expected to read any sources provided. Undergrads are encouraged to attend.

Rather than sticking to one philosophical perspective, this reading group enables a fruitful and stimulating engagement with a vast array of conceptual tools, enriching the analysis of issues which have dominated the history of thought and which are still of great relevance to the present.

Anyone interested in moderating a session or in helping out in the coordination of the reading group or has any suggestions, feel free to get in touch.

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