Article:
Shattered embodiment: Cyberspace as Cartesian Project

Author(s): Müller, Elke
Abstract

In the Western world, we are still proceeding from a Cartesian worldview. In this paper I will illustrate that this dualistic worldview is objectified in Virtual Reality technologies. In order to illustrate this, I will first explain the main ideas of Descartes’ Optics with respect to his vision on sense perception, space and the body. Secondly, I will compare the described topics of Descartes’ philosophy with the phenomenological critique and alternative of Merleau-Ponty. These elaborations will serve as a background for my illustration. I will distinguish three kinds of virtual spaces, of which the CAVE seems to arouse the strongest kind of Cartesian ruptures, which I will refer to as experiences of ‘shattered embodiment’.


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Müller, Elke: Shattered embodiment: Cyberspace as Cartesian Project. In: Dichtung Digital. Journal für Kunst und Kultur digitaler Medien, Jg. 4 (2002-11-10), Nr. 6, S. 1-22. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.25969/mediarep/17573.
@ARTICLE{Müller2002-11-10,
 author = {Müller, Elke},
 title = {Shattered embodiment: Cyberspace as Cartesian Project},
 year = 2002-11-10,
 doi = "\url{http://dx.doi.org/10.25969/mediarep/17573}",
 volume = 4,
 address = {Berlin},
 journal = {Dichtung Digital. Journal für Kunst und Kultur digitaler Medien},
 number = 6,
 pages = {1--22},
}
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