Media Epistemology of Sympoietic World Relations. A Critique of Iconic-Humanistic Anthropocentrism

by Kevin Onland (Universität Siegen, SFB)

How can the disrupted relationship between humans and the environment in the Anthropocene be understood epistemologically? In this working paper, Kevin Onland examines the epistemological foundations of human relations with the world in the Anthropocene from the perspective of media philosophy. The paper asks how media, as mediating instances in communication between human and non-human actors, structure approaches to the world, and to what extent anthropocentric patterns of thought are perpetuated in the process.

→ Link Working Paper

About the Working Paper

The starting point is the assumption of disrupted communication between humans and the environment, which stems not only from structural but also from epistemic problems. This paper analyzes how central ideals of an iconic-humanistic anthropocentrism are reflected in media representations of the world.

The focus is on an iconic NASA photograph of Earth: the Blue Marble. As a seemingly holistic view, it reinforces the notion of a detached, quasi-divine observer’s perspective and reproduces objectification, universalization, and the idea of human control as a normative image of “determinations (in) the world.” What becomes visible is a world as a closed object, not as a dynamic, conflict-ridden structure.

The article counters this with a reframing: Media are understood as relational, processual, and situationally embedded actors. Drawing on sympoietic approaches, this brings the co-productive interdependence of humans, non-human entities, and media mediations to the forefront. The result is a media epistemology that does not aim at totality, but rather at partiality, difference, and a mode of thinking in terms of networked world relations.

About the Author

Kevin Onland is a research associate in subproject A03, “Navigation in Online/Offline Spaces”, of the SFB 1187 Media of Cooperation (University of Siegen). His research focuses on art-based media at the intersection with the discourse on the Anthropocene. He earned his bachelor’s degree in film studies and sociology at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz and his master’s degree in media and social sciences at the University of Siegen.