Networkologies: A Philosophy of Networks for a Hyperconnected Age - A Manifesto Networkologies is the first text to develop an entire new philosophy based upon networks. While many contemporary texts on networks have presented critiques or analyses of network formations in our world, this book is the first to develop an entirely new worldview based on the structure of networks themselves. From global capitalism to artificial minds, evolutionary biology to quantum physics, networks are our future. Networkologies presents us with a new image of thought for our hyperconnected age. More information here. c/0 Filip Maric. … [Read more...] about Connectivity – new book
3 books on the philosophy of walking
A few months ago, an English translation of Frédéric Gros's book 'A Philosophy of Walking' came out, which prompted me to think about what walking means to physiotherapists and whether some of the more recent philosophies of walking might help us think about what walking means to us as practitioners, philosophers of movement, and walkers. Walking is a subject that hasn't received a lot of philosophical attention. Like movement, posture and function, they are ideas we, as physiotherapists, claim some ownership over. We certainly teach a lot about these concepts and do a lot of research into aspects of these phenomena, but do we don't really know what we mean when we say physiotherapy is … [Read more...] about 3 books on the philosophy of walking
Blank H (2012) The surprisingly short history of heterosexuality. Beacon Press
I did some research into the writings of Hanne Blank, the author of 'Straight: The Surprisingly Short History of Sexuality,' see this brief interview with Thomas Rogers at Salon. I realised that there are some surprising and interesting links between Hanne's work and the history of physiotherapy. Firstly, Blank reminds us that heterosexuality was a social construct invented to normalise sexuality at a time when late-Victorian anxieties imposed some now taken-for-granted, but no less draconian notions of 'normal' sexuality. This was exactly the time when physiotherapy as a profession was being formalised. Normative values around (hetero)sexuality were pivotal to the founders of … [Read more...] about Blank H (2012) The surprisingly short history of heterosexuality. Beacon Press
Zachariah A et al (2013) ‘Towards a critical medical practice: reflections on the dilemmas of medical culture today’
A recent book review for a book titled 'Towards a Critical Medical Practice: Reflections on the Dilemmas of Medical Culture Today' made me reflect on one of the prevailing questions facing physiotherapy in the 21st century. The review said this: The study of the postcolonial Indian healthcare system with its manifold sociocultural complexities and incongruities offers rich cross-cultural perspectives; the interplay between the legacies of colonialism and the shifting priorities of a vibrant but bureaucratically entrenched state apparatus reveals that it has over the decades succumbed to pressures from neo-liberalism and the free market, and that its initial commitments to providing care … [Read more...] about Zachariah A et al (2013) ‘Towards a critical medical practice: reflections on the dilemmas of medical culture today’
Dreyfus H & Kelly SD (2011) All things shining: reading the Western Classics to find meaning in a secular age. New York; Free Press
Over the southern hemisphere summer, when things go a bit quieter at Uni (and for those of you who think we all get 3 months holiday, let me tell you I had 20 minutes off on Christmas morning!) one of my favourite things to do is to read something big...something that's going to take my brain to the gymnasium in a way that endless emails just don't do. Two years ago I read Erin Manning's astonishing book 'Relationscapes' which is the work of an astonishing mind and still gives me goose-bumps. Last year I read Deleuze and Guattari's 'A Thousand Plateaus' (well I say I read it...I read a page or two then went for a lie down!) This year I've been prompted into thinking about philosophy … [Read more...] about Dreyfus H & Kelly SD (2011) All things shining: reading the Western Classics to find meaning in a secular age. New York; Free Press