Lyotard’s ‘Brain’, and/or the Mathematical Universe
Sunil Manghani
Technophany A Journal for Philosophy and Technology September 16, 2025 DOI: 10.54195/technophany.19598 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that Lyotard's "A Postmodern Fable," read alongside contemporary artificial intelligence and the mathematical-universe hypothesis, retains valuable insights: it pre-inscribes an inevitable disinheritance of the Human and/or the Brain's mathematical array, and potentially reveals itself as an expression of an already existing mathematical function. |
Abstract
This article provides a reading of Jean-François Lyotard’s “A Postmodern Fable.” It explores the speculative narrative on the fate of human consciousness as the Sun dies in conjunction with a reading of contemporary artificial intelligence and the hypothesis of a mathematical universe. The analysis draws upon Lyotard’s layered concept of the ‘inhuman’, alongside accounts from engineer James Lovelock and physicist Max Tegmark, to interrogate the futures of intelligence and consciousness beyond anthropocentric frameworks. In conclusion, Lyotard’s Fable, benefiting from updated accounts of what he refers to as “all the research in progress” in contemporary science and technology, retains valuable insights; pre-inscribing an inevitable disinheritance of the Human, and/or the Brain’s mathematical array. Lyotard’s Fable potentially reveals itself an expression of an already existing mathematical function.