The Philosophy of Movement: Using Affect Theory and Existentialism to Negotiate Difference Online

• Author / Creator

  Au, Kara Wai-Fong

• The design of comment systems on social media and news websites such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter are not made to promote critical discussions or find the source of political conflict. The integration of digital tools like social media to enact politics online and the shift to identity-based politics further complicates the political space. The speed at which digital communication occurs and the rate at which online news is released places stress on the ability to pause and think about critical and sensitive issues like death. This paper introduces a new theory called the philosophy of movement. It will explain how adopting this philosophy will help the user be a more effective and affective communicator of political issues. The philosophy of movement incorporates affect theory, existentialism, and conflict resolution to produce an actionable and theoretical model to understand and respond to political difference in the digital space. In the philosophy of movement through existential authenticity the individual is faced with the ambiguity of reality and the multitude of contending truths. They are able to negotiate through this conflict by accepting ambiguity, but empowered to act in spite of not knowing through their affective potential, the ability to affect and be affected in the public space and make an impact in the field of relation. The philosophy of movement is implemented in a case study examining a local conflict where a woman is at odds with a town that believes driving a hearse as a regular vehicle is inappropriate. The philosophy shows how the dissemination of the conflict online obscured the true source of the issue and did not enable reconciliation due to the inauthentic response of the public and the style in which the articles were published. This paper shows how the philosophy of movement contributes to authentic problem solving so that reconciliation can be reached through conflicts with ambiguous truths.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Heidegger
  • Massumi
  • digital
  • politics
  • digital activism
  • affect
  • New Brunswick
  • hearse
  • authenticity
  • inauthenticity
  • existentialism

• Graduation date

  Fall 2018

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Arts

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3TX35P18

• License

  Permission is hereby granted to the University of Alberta Libraries to reproduce single copies of this thesis and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes only. Where the thesis is converted to, or otherwise made available in digital form, the University of Alberta will advise potential users of the thesis of these terms. The author reserves all other publication and other rights in association with the copyright in the thesis and, except as herein before provided, neither the thesis nor any substantial portion thereof may be printed or otherwise reproduced in any material form whatsoever without the author's prior written permission.