It’s only March, but we may already have a winner for the coolest philosophy of the year: a new project “combining mixtape aesthetics with philosophical reflections on technology.”
[archived image unavailable]
Dubbed Processing…, it was created by Nick Kroll, associate professor of philosophy at Franklin & Marshall College.
What is it? Professor Kroll says: “Philosophers contribute audio essays that sound ecologists score and situate within a mix of mood setting interludes. The resulting soundscapes bridge academic inquiry and musical expression. Processing…is neither podcast nor playlist. It’s a philosophy mixtape.”
The mixtape—a double album, apparently—has four “sides”: Side A features Grace Helton on knowledge and reality, Side B has Luvell Anderson on manipulative expression, Side C gives us Katie Elliott on being freaked out about AI, and Side D presents Joshua Habgood-Coote on science fiction and technology. Shorter pieces feature remixed clips from Michael Dummett, Tamar Gendler, David Chalmers, Martha Nussbaum, Bertrand Russell, Noam Chomsky, Harry Frankfurt, Max Black, Iris Murdoch, and Arthur C. Clarke.
The music for the mixtape was written by Kroll and DJ and turntablist Vincent Smaldone (aka DJ Image) at The Institute of Mechanical Surround (IMS), which is a workspace for experimental collaborations between scholars, musicians, and artists that Kroll co-directs along with John Modern, his colleague in Religious Studies. Their other productions include Mixtape Metaphysics, an art installation that accompanies the Processing… mixtape.
Kroll shares that you can listen to in a variety of ways:
There’s a YouTube playlist for our “lyric” videos. Each side of the mixtape can be streamed on the SoundCloud for the IMS. Side A of the mixtape is now available on all major streaming platforms (e.g., Spotify and Apple Music), with the remaining sides being released over the next month on these platforms.
There are even real life, physical cassettes of the mixtape which you can buy at BandCamp.
[archived image unavailable] Dave Chalmers listening to the Processing… mixtape on a Walkman at the opening of Mixtape Metaphysics.The project is funded by The Henry Luce Foundation, The Luther Binkley Fund in Philosophy at Franklin and Marshall College, The Marc Sanders Philosophy in Media Initiative, and the Office of College Grants at Franklin and Marshall College.
There will be a Volume II, Kroll says. If you’re interested in contributing to it, contact him.
You can check out “Side A: Knowledge and Reality” below.
