The Philosophy of Byung-Chul Han (2020)

In the 1980s, there were a series of writers who challenged the way people thought of the then-growing popularity of colour television and news media. I have written before about Neil Postman, and his fear of our world becoming a ‘trivial society’ and Marshall McLuhan, who warned us that ‘the medium is the message’. (Technology is not just a tool, embedded within it is a message.) I’ve been searching for a modern author who can do in our times what these authors did then. Challenge assumptions. Lift up the veil of technology and help us understand what lies underneath. Enter Byung-Chul Han. Han is South Korean-born, German philosopher and is one of the most daring philosophers I’ve read in recent years. He offers quick, incisive books rather than long, jargon-heavy reads. (His books are usually less than a hundred pages.) In this way, he’s great if you are new to philosophy. Or like me, enjoy reading something in one sitting. What’s more, Byung-Chul Han is telling the stories that n ... Read full article.