In this seminar we will look closer at the notion of the artificial, and how it shaped the conceptualization, legitimation and criticism of man-made technologies, cultural products, modes of behavior and societal arrangements in the Enlightenment period.
Seminar: Conceptions of the artificial in the Enlightenment period
Several dichotomies governing contemporary debates on culture and technology— nature versus culture, human versus machine—were challenged and artistically explored in the Enlightenment period. A crucial but as yet unexplored aspect of Enlightenment thought was the concept of ‘the artificial’: lives, societies and even nature could be seen as artificial.
Published June 8, 2026 2:27 PM
- Last modified June 29, 2026 12:06 PM