Le jeu et son pouvoir subversif chez Debord et les situationnistes et chez Flusser / Play and Its Subversive Power in the Writings of Guy Debord, the Situationists and Vilém Flusser
The relation between the Situationists and Guy Debord, and Flusser has never been seriously explored: they were never in contact, but one can find that they had some ideas in common. This essay attempts to analyze one of these commonalities, their approach to play and games, in the light of the theories of Johan Huizinga and of Roger Caillois. The Situationists placed the game at the center of their approach, seeing in it a revolutionary tool that could help change the world radically. Flusser initially saw the act of playing more as a form of communication within the telematic society, but progressively he saw it also as a form of rebellion against the apparatus. Both the situationists and Flusser emphasized the creative dimension of the game, its subversive power, and the profanation and the quest for freedom that games could empower.
But an important difference between them is that the Situationists fostered a collective game —a celebration in which everyone should participate, where time and space are suspended. Flusser, on the other hand, saw playing against the apparatus more as an individual endeavor, where the single actor does not respect the rules of the program and plays against it. However, the point remains the same: to play the game and use it against the system—whatever that system may be.
Libertad y poshistoria en la filosofía de la fotografie de Vilém Flusser
The object of this research is to trace Flusser’s thoughts on freedom and history as they appear in his philosophy of photography. The investigation focusses on the function of the author of the photograph in relation to apparatuses and programs. It extends, as I will try to show, to the activity of the spectator and of everyone who interacts with images. I follow Flusser’s methodology, which is to relate the philosophy of photography to the theory of games. And that's why I speak about the player, the toy and the game involved in photography. I think Flusser's main inspiration was Wittgenstein of the Tractactus and his theory of the emancipation of meaning from truth or factual falsity. Here I find the ontological key to his philosophy of photography as a philosophy of freedom.
O filósofo que gostava de jogar: o pensamento dialógico de Vilém Flusser e a sua busca pela liberdade
This article examines the role of playing in Vilém Flusser's thinking. In addition to a deeper conceptual insight, this analyses conducted on the philosopher's work investigates how he understood play as a specific manner of being in the world. In this regard, this paper aims to gain insight into how Flusser accepted this kind of existence for himself. His texts, his thoughts and his methods are based on a playful attitude towards culture, language, his references and towards his readers. A closer look at this specific aspect of Flusser's writing shows how the writing itself materializes the philosophy it suggests. The analyses are based on three key concepts: dialog, image as a concept, and the bureaucrat/employee; concepts which allow the understanding of how the playful dimension of Flusser's thinking can be important in order to figure out how he sees in the concept of the Homo Ludens a feasible ethical posture for the practice of freedom in contemporary society.