(Re)Conceptualising mnemonic technology in light of hermeneutic ontology

Abstract

This paper lays out the background and foreground of how we come to conceptualise our world by providing an analysis of the notion of ontology. It argues that there are three conceptually separable discourses that can be identified in the Western philosophical tradition: ‘classical ontology’, ‘noetic ontology’, and ‘hermeneutic ontology’. Through the lenses of these three general ontologies, the regional ontology of information is explicated and is then further expanded upon in line with hermeneutic ontology’s emphasis on the social–historical contingency of human existence. Through this, it is argued that the mnemonic capacities and attitudes of human beings, and the relationship of these capacities and attitudes towards the formation of these beings, should not be considered in isolation from the development of different mnemonic technologies for the inscription, storage, organisation, retrieval, and dissemination of information. This argument is presented by considering the historical development and implementation of the primarily linguistic technologies of orality, literacy, print culture, and the emerging digital culture.