Reviews

The Expulsion of the Other: Society, Perception and Communication Today by Byung-Chul Han

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axelsmarin's review against another edition

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inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.0

rinnaria's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

miralarissa's review against another edition

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informative reflective sad fast-paced

2.0

casparb's review against another edition

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real neato & zipped thru today for the byung-chul han reading group tomorrow ,,, in Cornwall ,,, ,,

possibly I had the most fun with this one , which is nice because I always enjoy bch. I think it MAY need the backing of psychopolitics for it to land but. I rly enjoy as a nifty little run off heidegger into THE OTHER qua but Not specifically too much dipping into levinas. o and capitalist burnout with digital hyper/noninteraction. weirdly feeds perfectly into Derrida's APORIAS which i also read today via the oversaturation/indiscernability thing. but bch has decided they can't be friends. anyway

flordelmal's review against another edition

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2.0

Este libro la verdad es que fue una decepción.
Después de haber disfrutado bastante de "La sociedad del cansancio" decidí leer algo más de este autor, pero en este ensayo no pude encontrar nada de lo que más me había gustado en el anterior. No sé si era problema de la traducción, pero el tono del autor me resultó extremadamente pedante y condescendiente, especialmente teniendo en cuenta que las reflexiones que estaba haciendo no aportaban nada nuevo a las discusiones que existen con respecto al tema de la comunicación en el mundo contemporáneo. Me pareció excesivamente poco "nuanced", simplón y con aires de ser mucho más de lo que realmente era.
Quizás vuelva a leer algo suyo más adelante, pero de momento creo que me voy a dar un descanso de Byung-Chul Han.

seasized's review against another edition

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4.0

with these being my first ever fully read philosophical books, i really appreciate that his writing instills a state of awe in me.

some quotes:

Violence of the Same is invisible because of its positivity. The proliferation of the Same presents itself as growth. At a certain point, however, production is no longer productive but destructive, information is no longer informative but deformative, communication is no longer communicative but merely cumulative.

The expulsion of the Other produces an adipose emptiness of fullness. What is obscene is the hypervisibility, hypercommunication, hyperproduction and hyper consumption that lead to a rushing standstill of the Same.

The object is primarily an Against, something that turns against me, throws itself at me, opposes me, contradicts me, goes against me and offers resistance. […] The digital order is the oppos of the terrestrial order, the order of the Earth. […] As a commodity it does not reproach me, does not accuse me, does not oppose me. Instead it seeks to flatter and please me, to elicit a ‘like’ from me.

Voice and gaze are the medium in which Being manifests itself as that which is other than Being, yet attunes and determines it.

Listening:

Listening has a political dimension. It is an act, an active participantion in the existence of Others, in their suffering too. Today, everyone is somehow on their own with themselves, with their suffering, with their fears. [..] No connection is established between my suffering and your suffering. Thus the sociality of suffering is overlooked.

One felt ill at ease only as long as one had not expressed oneself fully.

Listening is a bestowal, a giving, a gift. It does not passively follow the speech of the Other. In a sense, listening precedes speaking; it is only listening that causes the Other to speak.