The Idea of Code and the Metaphor of Legality
Date
2009-06-06
Authors
Bradley, Bryan
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Pacific Centre for Technology and Culture
Abstract
From biotechnology to computer programming, the notion of a “code” is used to describe a latent command that operates to produce actions and outcomes. However the metaphorical character of the vocabulary of code obscures the way a juridical understanding of beings, virtual or otherwise, comes to occupy our thinking of them. In this piece I aim to disambiguate the metaphor of code, look at its sense and play in digital, analog, bodily, and fleshy deployments, with an eye for the drive to legality, technique, and nihilism that the language of code holds.
Description
Keywords
biotechnology, metaphor of code, juridical theory, nihilism, programming, language of code, legal theory
Citation
Bryan, Bradley. "The Idea of Code and the Metaphor of Legality." Pacific Centre for Technology and Culture, Victoria, B.C. 6 June 2009. Presentation.