The idea behind the anthropological-philosophical interest of the research group is that there is no philosophical anthropology in a secularised and non-substantialist context if not as an interrogation of how anthropos is given to the world and the retroactive effects that these ways have on the very constitution of the human being as a living being and as a subject: thinking human means first and foremost considering the medial, technical and imaginal character of the human condition.
The human living being, with its remarkable ability to actively and reflexively shape the forms of its relationship with the world, is a source of fascination. It produces technical environments that, in a fascinating cycle, reconfigure its sensitive and cognitive structure, paving the way for new forms of life and cultural horizons.
Therefore, only by analysing the practices, devices, and processes that mediate the interaction between the human being and the environment can it be attempted to answer the ultimate Kantian question—”What is man?”—and at the same time take into account the anthropological changes that go hand in hand with those of the symbolic, material, and social world in which we find ourselves.
From this urgent perspective, the analysis of specific media, technological, symbolic, artistic, and conceptual productions becomes not just important but crucial. This analysis will enable us to understand the actions, reactions, effects, transformations, and representations that specific human groups have engaged with and continue to engage with through images, various media structures, and diverse technical devices.
The aim of the research group, on the anthropological side, is thus to question what different human groups do and suffer through techniques, media and that particular medium that is the image: on their production, dissemination and interpretation in various social and cultural contexts.
