Maintenance and the identity of artefacts

VEGA, JESUS; LAWLER, DIEGO

Viena

Workshop; Maintaining Artifacts: Time Technology & Human Practice; 2023

In this work, we suggest that comprehending the grammar that threads the fabric of our practices of artifacts repair and maintenance bears a direct philosophical impact on the way we contemplate and construct their ontology. These practices encapsulate the lifecycle of artifacts, namely, how they come into being, how they endure and persist in their being, are upheld, and eventually under what conditions they cease to be, undergo repair, or are discarded. Particularly, these practices suggest a resemblance between artifacts and living beings that carries philosophical significance. To rephrase, something akin to what occurs with tigers, bats, and larks also unfolds with chairs, mobile phones, and corkscrews. Both sets can be comprehended through a certain principle of unity that manifests across the "natural history" of these individuals, whether they are living entities or artificial constructs. Naturally, in each instance, this principle of unity would be expressed and understood in distinctive ways.