2.) That it is theoretically and empirically possible to examine objects in of themselves, and that it is important to do so, as both material and non-material objects contain causal powers that impact history and society independent of the human recognition or conceptualization of these powers.
Scholars of materiality, then, often miss the mark, and study the conceptualizations of objects at the expense of the objects in of themselves. I will forward, then, three major arguments: 1.) That it is often the case, particularly in the social sciences, that scholars look not at non-human objects, but instead at the ways those objects are perceived and labeled by humans/society. The "ontological Turn" in philosophy, the "material turn" in anthropological and sociological sciences, the "posthuman" moment in the humanities, and the "Cognitive Archaeology" movement in cognitive science, among others, all share a common thread of critiquing the anthropocentrism of the humanities and social theory. This project is therefore indebted to various recent movements in the social sciences and the humanities that have begun to take more seriously the ways in which "things" impact human life. In particular, this dissertation focuses on the relationship among humans and nonhumans, and the material and the non-material in the creation of digital art and design. This dissertation examines the social relationships of material objects (including, but not limited to, humans and things) and idea objects (including, but not limited to, broad cultural and social forces) that constitute the world.
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