The ontological screening of contemporary life: a phenomenological analysis of screens

Abstract

In this paper, we attempt to show how phenomenology, in a traditional methodological form, can provide an interesting and novel basis for thinking about screens in a world where screens now pervade a great many aspects of human experience. In our analysis, we aim to give a phenomenological account of screen(ing), that is, of its fundamental and foundational meaning. In doing the phenomenological analysis, we ground our argument on the ontology of Heidegger's Being and Time. In doing this, we claim that the screen will only show itself, as that which it is, as a screen in-the-world, where screens already are or have their being ‘as screens’ for this and that purpose, activity or work. We claim, and aim to show, that our analysis provides many insights about the meaning of screens that would be difficult to gain through any other method of investigation. We also argue and show that, although our method is not empirical, its results have important implications for the empirical world.

Keywords:

• screens
• information technology
• media
• phenomenology
• interpretive research
• Heidegger

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lucas D Introna

About the authors

Lucas D Introna is Professor of Organisation, Technology and Ethics in the Centre for the Study of Technology and Organisation at Lancaster University. His research interest is a critical orientation to the political and ethical aspects of information technology in organisations and society from a phenomenological perspective. He was associate editor of Information Technology & People (1996–2000) and is co-editor of Ethics and Information Technology. He is a founding member of the International Society for Ethics and Information Technology (INSEIT) and an active member of IFIP WG 8.2, The Society for Philosophy in Contemporary World (SPCW) and a number of other academic and professional societies. His most recent work includes a book Management, Information and Power published by Macmillan, and various academic papers in leading journals and conference proceedings on a variety of topics such as theories of information, privacy, surveillance, information technology and post-modern ethics, autopoiesis and self-organisation in social systems and virtual organisations. He holds degrees in Management, Information Systems and Philosophy. He can be reached at [email protected].

Fernando M Ilharco

Fernando M Ilharco is Assistant Professor at the Catholic University of Portugal, Lisbon. His Ph.D., at the London School of Economics and Political Science (2002), developed a phenomenological investigation into information technology (IT). Co-founder of the Phenomenology, Organisation and Technology international working group, Ilharco's research interests are the philosophical, cultural, social and organisational dimensions of contemporary technologies of information and communication. He is a columnist at Público, a reference Portuguese daily newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected].