A Flusserian Perspective on Legal Due Process
This essay is an inquiry into the nature of due process from the standpoint of Vilém Flusser’s philosophy of language. It expands on his distinction between dialogue and discourse to consider that a fruitful realization of due process is contingent upon relational patterns that enable the pursuit of a commitment to truthfulness. It incorporates concepts from Franz Rosenzweig, and Arnold Gehlen’s and Martin Buber’s anthropological philosophy to qualify this commitment, the relational patterns which can realize its pursuit, and how they constrain judicial utterances. This supports a phenomenology of due process that considers its nature twofold, both dialogical and discursive.
A insustentável leveza de pensar: Jogos, joguinhos e jogaços de Vilém Flusser
This article seeks to disclose the strategies used by Vilém Flusser for writing his texts while living in Brazil. After presenting the basic elements of his Brazilian „performance“, we turn our attention to the controversies around him – why was he rejected by many contemporary scholars, why was he subjected to severely ironic criticism by professional critics and – at the same time – aroused great interest among a vast number of readers? Starting from the analysis of his book “Language and reality“ and from three essays, we try to show that the philosopher developed the practice of playing a particular kind of game as a clear and sophisticated strategy to get across an emotional and eloquent meaning through his work. In the last pages of his book “Brazilian Phenomenology," written shortly after leaving Brazil for good, he introduces the behavioral characteristics of a new man, the “homo ludens" whose involvement with society displays structure of a game: neither to win, nor to avoid defeat, but to play with the purpose of changing the rules of the game. Studying the works of Vilém Flusser, we reach the conclusion that he himself used this third type of action, crossing through the traditional discourse of western science, causing the indignation of professors, irritating journalists and fascinating readers.