From Clarkson to Heidegger

This article presents an inquiry into the patterns and epistemic errors present in the ideology of media consumption: fundamental attribution error and the myth of Jones. The article brings up two recent scandalous examples, popular media personality Jeremy Clarkson being suspended by the BBC, and the publication of Martin Heidegger's Black Notebooks. Using these examples, we attempt to demonstrate that they exemplify one and the same tendency dominant in Euro-American culture-the ideal of objectivity. Or, as John Law puts it, a culture dominated by literal representations. Here, a major shift is present in the very basic presuppositions of human communication, which opens up a vista on some of its basic value choices. The influence of these choices goes well beyond conventional mass media, affecting science and philosophy. Valorizing literal representations may seem beneficial for communication, but it results in a belief deeply rooted in the Euro-American worldview: a belief in the immediate link between what a person does and their mental dispositions, which may lead to disastrous consequences. Habermas's ideal communicative situation is based on this, and it functions as a repressive structure, eradicating the public's ability to recognize and switch communicative levels, employing metaphors, allegories, irony, and humor. As a result, problematic topics such as racism, homophobia, extremist ideologies, and Nazism are rendered impossible to discuss. This has a stifling effect on critical thinking. The dominance of literal representations does not enhance communication; instead, it simply closes off the discursive fields which do not fit the ideal of universal good will.