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Automata — A Masculine Utopia
Abstract
Between 1750 and 1850 the attention of philosophers, natural scientists, and engineers was focused on machines and mechanical movements. The most fascinating creations in the realm of mechanics and Utopia (1) were automata, devices that move by themselves. The greatest achievements in this nature-imitating world were androids, automata simulating human bodies (2). This article concentrates on the hidden meanings of these androids. These walking, talking, writing, and music playing imitations of human beings did not only interest scientists and inventors. They seduced the public in nearly all the European capitals. The exhibition of automata was an important science oriented attraction in the 18th century, and was both amusing and embarrassing.
In this undergraduate dissertation, I explored the trend of 'vtubers' or 'virtual YouTubers' in Japan, analysing the factors leading to the trend's success within the context of past attempts to popularise 'virtual idols' in Japan.
This article pursues the origin and mutation of a fantastic story concerning an automaton in the shape of a young girl that was supposedly built by René Descartes. In recent decades it has been retold and reimagined so many times that the tale has become an iconic narrative in the context of the reassessment of Descartes's significance in intellectual history. But a close reading of the original story, found in a 1699 work entitled Mélanges d'histoire et de littérature by Vigneul-Marville, reveals an overtly stated agenda of saving the philosopher's moral reputation, which makes most recent interpretations of the story problematic. The vast majority of modern retellings demonstrate no awareness of the content or the significance of the first tale even as it has been used to shed light on Descartes, Cartesian ideas, and early modern thought in general.
Ideas of artificial men or thinking machines have pervaded legend and literature from the earliest times (1). It is perhaps only in the last twenty years or so, however, that technologies such as industrial robots and artificial intelligence have been developed which appear to have the potential to realize these ideas (2). The expression of such ideas and reactions to them have been diverse, embracing both the brightest Utopian and darkest dystopian themes, and discussions are found in many different contexts, ranging from myth to critiques of current technology.
Androids: Les Automates des Jaquet-Droz
- Roland Carrera
- Dominique Louseau
The Nature of Design
- Th
- Pye
- Th Pye
Droz et leurs Automates, catalogue of the exhibition Montres et Bijoux, op. cit., p. 69. „La musicienne a, plus que ses frères, l’apparence de la vie. Elle tourne la tête de côté et d’autre; elle suit du regard le jeu de ses doigts; sa poitrine se lève, est-ce que respiration, est-ce que émotion?
- Lion Montagnon
- Les Jaquet
In this article I use it in the sense of absurd dream and chimera, the same sense that this word had in the 18th century. It is the century about which the present article is written. For further information see: Raymond Trousson
- R Trousson
In reality the duck picks up the corn, which is kept in a receptacle, and in another recepticle some minutes later appears a sort of excretion looking like pap. All these hints and the biography of the life of Vaucanson were given by André Doyen and Lucien Liaigre
- L Liaigre
It has been developped by one of the most famous German philosophers
- GFT Hegel
On his forehead was written ‘emeth’ (truth). When he grew and became too strong the E of ‘emeth’ was crossed off and became ‘meth’ which means ‘dead’. He came from dust and he went back to dust. (To the different meanings of this legend see Gershom Scholem
- G Scholem
Nowadays we no longer attempt to construct beings able to perform an thousand human actions, but rather machines able to execute a single action which will replace that of a thousand humans (Helmholtz
- SA Bedini
And the most beautiful pictures can be found in Jean Prasteau
- J Prasteau
The unconscious links between modern economics, technology and libido has been worked out by Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man
- H Marcuse