Introduction: Towards a Critical Philosophy of Networks – Reflections on the Perspective of Pierre Musso

Abstract

One of the most original philosophers to have addressed the world of information and computing technology in his writings, the Frenchman Pierre Musso, took a degree in Philosophy at the École Nationale Supérieure des Postes et Télécommunications, before obtaining a doctorate in Political Science at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. Musso is professor of Information and Communication Sciences at the University of Rennes 2 and at Télécom Paris Tech. The technical network is the key topic and concept in his critical approach to information and communication technologies. Musso has carried out in-depth research on the dissemination and prevalence of networked power, not only in its instrumental aspects, but also and above all in its cultural and political aspects, adopting an approach involving a multidisciplinary dialogue. Musso’s research looks to history, the philosophy of technology and the social sciences in his search for the origins of the idea of the network. He argues that the concept did not arise with the Internet, but has its roots in the ideas – or perhaps it would be more accurate to say in the plans – of Henri Saint-Simon and his disciples who became high priests of industrial development, Saint-Amand Bazard, Barthélemy Prosper Enfantin, and Michel Chevalier, among others. In addition to this introduction, this book brings together various researchers' contributions on Musso's theories, and the final chapter contains his brief comments on those contributions.