Research Seminar I: Catherine Malabou: Epigenetic Mimesis (14 Oct 2021)

Catherine Malabou Epigenetic Mimesis: Natural brains and synaptic chips In dialogue with Yuk Hui For the inaugural event of the Dialogues on Philosophy and Technology series, we present a seminar with the renowned French philosopher Catherine Malabou. In her intervention, Malabou will reflect on the way in which computing processors equipped with neural networks and synaptic chips are mimicking natural brain plasticity. In return, she also questions the capacity of the plastic brain to simulate computing processors. Through this inquiry, she asks: Are we then facing a new age of “mimesis”? The talk will be followed by a dialogue with Yuk Hui. Catherine Malabou is a professor of philosophy at the Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy at Kingston University, London and a professor of Comparative Literature and European Languages and Studies at University of California Irvine where she regularly teaches in the spring. Her latest books include: Before Tomorrow: Epigenesis and Rationality (Polity Press, 2016) and Morphing Intelligence, From IQ to IA (Columbia University Press, 2018). She is currently writing a new book on anarchism and philosophy. About the series The Dialogues on Philosophy and Technology seminar series is initiated by the Cosmotechnics/Critical AI research project, supported by the City University of Hong Kong in collaboration with the Research Network for Philosophy and Technology. The series running from Fall/Spring 2021/22 features talks and workshops with leading scholars in the philosophy of technology and aims to address urgent questions on philosophy and technology today. November events include a workshop on Global Perspectives on Philosophy of Engineering and Technology as a dialogue between Diane Michelfelder and Neelke Doorn, editors of the Routledge Handbook for Philosophy of Engineering (2021) and Shannon Vallor, editor of the Oxford Handbook of the Philosophy of Technology (2021), hosted by Carl Mitcham (11 November 2021), and a talk by philosopher Jean-Hugues Barthélémy (24 November 2021). http://cosmotechnics.org/research-sem...