Noetics Without a Mind

Noesis should not be mistakenly identified with cognition. It is essential to steer clear of conflating cognition with re-cognition, which involves a stagnant affirmation of sameness or a repetitive process lacking in heterogeneity. In contrast, noetics shares a common root with noema, translating literally as ‘meaning’ or, in a broader sense, as ‘sense.’ However, it is important to note that sense is not pre-existing; its production is inherently embodied, embedded, enactive, extended, and affective (4EA). The transdisciplinary volume ‘Noetics without a Mind’ (NWM) expands on the 4EA approach of noesis by introducing a crucial technological dimension. 

A NWM perspective on generalised noetics delves into sense-making processes shaped by the organisation of bodies, assemblages, and material environments. This includes the involvement of more-than-human entities and technical objects, onto which thought, memory, and desires are increasingly offloaded. The individuation processes, both psychic (personal) and social (collective), are intricately linked with technical evolution. By incorporating the concept of technicity, NWM posits a reciprocal relationship in the individuation of humans, technology, and their affective surroundings. The simultaneous process of transindividuation nurtures an ecological understanding that transcends a purely logo-centric or inter-individual perspective. This evolution, occurring ‘by means other than life’, prompts speculations on non- apodictic pedagogies, emphasising sensibility and its potential for significant pre- individual affective amplifications. The volume thus explores both a knowledge of the sensible and a sensible form of knowledge.

NWM provides a platform for thinkers who boldly traverse disciplinary boundaries, encompassing a diverse range of fields. These include, but are not limited to, affect and affordance theories, architecture, art and cultural studies, philosophy and philosophy of technology, (digital) media studies, feminist theories, film theory, social sciences, and literature.

The Ecologies of Architecture Book Series published by Jap Sam Books and TU Delft OPEN promotes a transdisciplinary approach to architectural thinking and doing by extending its interest to topics that bring together the three ecological registers, namely the environment, the social and the individual. Such an approach accounts for what the built environment will come to be, and speculates about who will become alongside it. The series focuses not only on the why, what and how of architecture, but also on the who, who with and for whom.