The Indiscrete Image

“Thomas Carlson challenges the classical borders between the natural and the artificial, the human and the non-human, not naturalistically or reductionistically, but by invoking the core claims of the most classical mystical theology. Here mystical theology and high technology are made to interact in the service of an open-ended, unforeseeable, and risky future, the only sort of future worthy of the name.  Rich with classical erudition, elegantly argued, and avant-garde—in all a stunning achievement.”—John D. Caputo, Syracuse University

“The Indiscrete Image is a must-read for all those who long for a theoretical coupling of phenomenological precision and technological sensibility, and who wish to see such reflection pushed to the level of intellectual sophistication—and, finally, mystical unknowing—required for a genuine engagement of the posthuman condition, that is to say, of its generous possibilities for birth and creativity no less than of its increased challenges and potential dangers.”—Hent de Vries, Russ Family Chair in the Humanities, The Johns Hopkins University

“The term ‘indiscrete’ establishes a key topos for Thomas Carlson’s ongoing archaeology of post-secular subjectivity. The question of the subject’s indiscretion for Carlson involves its non-self identity, its difference from itself as a consequence of its creation in the image of an unnamable or unimaginable God. But for Carlson ‘indiscretion’ also implies a methodological approach, one that refuses to support ideologically based claims for the self-sufficiency of discourses and practices such as religion, philosophy, and tele-technology.  Indeed, in his extraordinarily wide learning and sophisticated interdisciplinary practice Carlson not only excavates but also instantiates the power of such ‘indiscrete’ thinking— thinking at the limit, both insisting on the finite and opening onto the infinite.”—Kenneth Reinhard, University of California, Los Angeles