“Whence the Means?” Ludwig Feuerbach and the Origin of Media Theory

Abstract

This article examines the origin of the concept of medium and of media theory as an area of knowledge. It claims that the concept of medium in the modern sense was first introduced in the works of German philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach. Attempting to re-read Feuerbach’s texts to reveal his original methodology and to “scrub” it of prevailing (mainly Hegelian and Marxist) interpretations, the author briefly traces the impact of this method—defined as a combination of three operations: an “inversion,” a determination of “material means,” and a “translation”—on the development of post-Feuerbachian thought. The question of “material means” is central to Feuerbach’s critical project and is directly linked to a “translation” procedure. Considered together, these two essentially coincide with the questions of medium and mediation as they are presented in media theory (particularly in Marshall McLuhan and Régis Debray). In conclusion, the author discusses the theological background of the concept of medium and introduces the concept of a “cultural Filioque.”