Flourishing Thought : Democracy in an Age of Data Hoards / Ruth A. Miller.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextSeries: Book collections on Project MUSEPublisher: Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, [2016]Manufacturer: Baltimore, Md. : Project MUSE, 2017Copyright date: ©[2016]Description: 1 online resource (248 pages)Content type:
  • text
Media type:
  • computer
Carrier type:
  • online resource
ISBN:
  • 9780472122301
Subject(s): Genre/Form: Online resources:
Contents:
1. Introduction; 2. Boundless Thought; 3. Embryos; 4. Clones; 5. Trash; 6. Data Hoards; 7. Conclusion; Notes; Bibliography; Index.
Summary: "Challenging the posthumanist canon which celebrates the pre-eminence of matter, Ruth Miller, inFlourishingThoughtargues that what nonhuman systems contribute to democracy is thought. Drawing on recent feminist theories of nonhuman life and politics, Miller shows that reproduction and flourishing are not antithetical to contemplation and sensitivity. After demonstrating processes of life and processes of thought are indistinguishable, Miller finds that four menacing accumulations of matter and information--global surveillance, stored embryos, human clones, and reproductive trash--are politically productive rather than threats to democratic politics. As a consequence, she questions the usefulness of individual rights such as privacy and dignity, contests the value of the rational metaphysics underlying human-centered political participation, and re-evaluates the gender relations that derive from this type of participation. Ultimately, in place of these human-centered structures, Miller posits a more meditative mode of democratic engagement. Miller's argument has shattering implications for the debates over the proper use and disposal of embryonic tissue, alarms about data gathering by the state and corporations, and other major ethical, social, and security issues"-- Provided by publisher
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1. Introduction; 2. Boundless Thought; 3. Embryos; 4. Clones; 5. Trash; 6. Data Hoards; 7. Conclusion; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

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"Challenging the posthumanist canon which celebrates the pre-eminence of matter, Ruth Miller, inFlourishingThoughtargues that what nonhuman systems contribute to democracy is thought. Drawing on recent feminist theories of nonhuman life and politics, Miller shows that reproduction and flourishing are not antithetical to contemplation and sensitivity. After demonstrating processes of life and processes of thought are indistinguishable, Miller finds that four menacing accumulations of matter and information--global surveillance, stored embryos, human clones, and reproductive trash--are politically productive rather than threats to democratic politics. As a consequence, she questions the usefulness of individual rights such as privacy and dignity, contests the value of the rational metaphysics underlying human-centered political participation, and re-evaluates the gender relations that derive from this type of participation. Ultimately, in place of these human-centered structures, Miller posits a more meditative mode of democratic engagement. Miller's argument has shattering implications for the debates over the proper use and disposal of embryonic tissue, alarms about data gathering by the state and corporations, and other major ethical, social, and security issues"-- Provided by publisher

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