Between gyges and the exhibitionist: Paradoxes of the digital self

Abstract

Translate Article

Take Notes

The myth of Gyges reveals the human fantasy of personal freedom, away from responsibility and the gaze of others, through a ring that makes the wearer invisible. Today, the digital self not only can make themselves invisible through the ring called the Internet and social media but also can control their ‘visibility’ so that they can be seen by others as they want. Levinas argues that Gyges’ ring is a symbol of separation, which is a prerequisite for freedom: it separates individuals from the whole and guarantees interiority. However, today’s digital self uses its invisibility to become a voyeur of the lives of others and, simultaneously, has constant opportunities for self-exhibition through which to attract the gaze of others; this results in its being totalized by the world without keeping its interiority. This paper analyses the pathological aspects of the digital self, which fails to protect its interiority: it examines its paradoxical characteristics of voyeurism and exhibitionism, and criticizes the larger systems and social structures that create and promote these forms of behaviour through the power of the gaze. Ultimately, it proposes how education can construct interiority, passivity, and criticism as ethical prerequisites that can resist the totalizing system of digital visibility within the framework of Levinasian ethics. Through this, the paper explores the possibility of an education reorients the digital self—from voyeurism and exhibitionism toward learning from the Other and sharing oneself as a gift, grounded in openness.