Histories of Faulty Humans

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Martina Heßler
• Subject Area: History of Science
• Term: from 2021 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 461903051

The application is for a six-month temporary replacement which will extend a regular sabbatical term. The aim is to complete a book on the history of “the faulty human being”. The project investigates the historicity of the topos of faulty humans with respect to the definition of ‘faulty’ in comparison to technology. The book argues that since the 19th century a new conceptual framework for human deficiency has emerged by comparing humans with technology. This topos has become ubiquitous in the 20th century and still determines discourses on technology today.Unlike philosophical-anthropological theories of man as a deficient creature, the book does not assume that human beings are biologically deficient by "nature", but ask for the cultural ascription of faultiness. Therefore, the book analyses the changes in the ways in which human faultiness was culturally ascribed in different life-world contexts (such as work, thinking, interpersonal relationships, to name but a few) and with reference to different technologies (e.g. mechanical machine, computer, AI). This will demonstrate the historical shifts and pluralities in fault-ascriptions.The history of the faulty human being in relation to technology is not just interesting for its own sake. Instead, the book argues that this topos represents a fundamental configuration of modernity with a deep and enduring impact. It legitimized technology, shaped concepts of man and machine as well as concepts of society, especially in connecting the idea of overcoming human faults to the promise of a better world. However, the topos has always been controversial. For this very reason it is very well suited for investigating negotiation processes about concepts of man and machine and concepts of society. Thus, the project will delineate the systematic place of the topos in modernity as distinct from the deficiency theories based on biologist conceptions and philosophical anthropology.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants