Coeckelbergh's diagnoses of the extensive historical and contemporary sources of a toxic culture of 'improving ourselves to death,' specifically as relentlessly driven by contemporary AI and surveillance capitalism, ground his prescriptions for alternative understandings of ourselves and of possible good lives as interwoven both with our technologies and the larger environment. The upshot is a book of exceptional insight and urgently needed wisdom.

Autorentext
Mark Coeckelbergh is professor of philosophy of media and technology at the University of Vienna. His many books include AI Ethics (2020) and Introduction to Philosophy of Technology (2019).

Klappentext

This book shows how self-improvement culture became so toxic-and why we need both a new concept of the self and a mission of social change in order to escape it. Mark Coeckelbergh delves into the history of the ideas that shaped this culture, critically analyzes the role of technology, and explores surprising paths out of the self-improvement trap.

Zusammenfassung
This book shows how self-improvement culture became so toxicand why we need both a new concept of the self and a mission of social change in order to escape it. Mark Coeckelbergh delves into the history of the ideas that shaped this culture, critically analyzes the role of technology, and explores surprising paths out of the self-improvement trap.

Inhalt

1. The Phenomenon: The Self-Improvement Imperative
2. The History: Ancient Philosophers, Priests, and Humanists in Search of Self-Knowledge and Perfection
3. The Society: Modern Self-Obsession from Rousseau to Hipster Existentialism
4. The Political Economy: Self-Taming and Exploitation Under Wellness Capitalism
5. The Technology: Categorized, Measured, Quantified, and Enhanced, or Why AI Knows Us Better Than Ourselves
6. The Solution (Part I): Relational Self and Social Change
7. The Solution (Part II): Technologies That Tell Different Stories About Us
   Notes
   Index