LAUSR

Helena De Preester’s “Subjectivity and Transcendental Illusions in the Anthropocene” aims to rethink fundamentally the human–technology relationship against the backdrop of the Anthropocene. Essentially, the essay is concerned with the current form of subjectivity that characterizes humankind in the Anthropocene, and analyzes how it embeds knowledge, desire and behavior. De Preester indeed succeeds in creating a potent and engaging reflection on the current form of human subjectivity characteristic for the age of the Anthropocene, by referring to Vilém Flusser’s apparatuses , McKenzie Wark’s vectoralist class , Stiegler’s savoir - vivre and object of addiction , Robert Pfaller’s notion of interpassivity ; Williams’ attention economy , etc. However, De Preester throughout her essay, although discussing thoroughly the aforementioned ideas of subjectivity and transcendental illusions in the Anthropocene (as much as the essay format allows for this), falls short in her ambitious aspiration to rethink fundamentally the human–technology relationship against the backdrop of the Anthropocene. Although De Preester provides excellent examples, they do not seem cohesive enough to support this conclusion, primarily as the analysis of the Anthropocene’s triad, as pointed out in the introduction (Earth–Technology–Humankind), requires a thorough insight into the role that Technology plays in its constitution.