Malicious Deceivers: Thinking Machines and Performative Objects

Malicious Deceivers by Ioana B. Jucan explores the genealogy of post-truth, connecting it to globalizing modernity and capitalism. It unpacks the notion of fakeness through the related logics of dissimulation and simulation, showing how these machines and performative objects construct impoverished pictures of the world. Jucan aims to counter the abstracting mode of thinking and the processes of voiding performed by Cartesian metaphysics and global capitalism, using the embodied I as a framing and situating device for the book.

Format: Hardback
Length: 324 pages
Publication date: 08 August 2023
Publisher: Stanford University Press

In her groundbreaking book, "Malicious Deceivers," Ioana B. Jucan delves into the intricate genealogy of post-truth, revealing its close connection to the globalizing modernity. She explores how the production of repeatable fakeness is intricately linked to capitalism and Cartesian metaphysics, unveiling the underlying logics of dissimulation (deception) and simulation (performativity). Through captivating case studies spanning different times and geographies, Jucan unravels the concept of fakeness, shedding light on its manifestations in software/AI, television, plastics, and the internet. She demonstrates how these (dis)simulation machines and performative objects create impoverished representations of the world, perpetuating a repetitive sameness through the erasure of embodied histories and lived experiences.

Furthermore, the book actively seeks to challenge the abstracting mode of thinking and the processes of voiding perpetuated by the fusion of Cartesian metaphysics and global capitalism. By adopting a model of creative scholarship rooted in the tradition of writing as performance, Jucan employs the embodied I as a framing and situating device for the book and its sites of investigation. Through this approach, she aims to counteract the Cartesian voiding of the thinking I and establish a distinct relationship between self and world, departing from the one posited by Descartes and prevalent in much Western philosophical and academic writing. This relationship entails a sense of separation that elevates the I to an abstract pedestal, disregarding its embodied histories and failing to account for its situatedness within a socio-historical context and the operations of power that shape it.

"Malicious Deceivers" is a profound exploration of the complex interplay between truth, fakeness, and power, offering valuable insights into the contemporary world. Through its meticulous scholarship and innovative approach, Jucan challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of reality and to engage in a more critical and embodied approach to thinking and being.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781503634633