From “Extension” to “Amputation”: Technological Constructions and Digital Anxiety of Bodies in Cyberspace–A Critical Perspective Based on Design Philosophy

Abstract

From 5G to IoT, from VR to AI, digital media technology is reshaping the design ecology. On one hand, technology intervenes in all aspects of design, even realizing the transformation of the designer from natural human to cyborg. Technology and human form a mutually constructive relationship. On the other hand, technology has a tendency to alienate, algorithmism and digital anxiety lead to the suspension of the body in design, which generates a new design logic in the digital state of existence. From the “extension” of the human body to the “amputation”, the connotation of the key word “technology” has fundamentally changed over time. In this paper, we will examine the evolutionary path of the conceptual history of technology, consider the representation of technological amputation in the post-human context. Meanwhile we will discuss how to deal with the generation of design in the digital age from the critical perspective of the technical philosophy, think the “body turning” in contemporary design research.