A Theory of the Drone: Remote Technology and the "Unmanned" War

2018/11/21

This book is one of the major works of French philosopher of science Grégoire Chamayou. While it focuses on military unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), primarily those of the United States, it exposes various issues inherent in the military use of remote technology across a wide scope—ranging from the psychological and ethical problems caused by remote killing to law and political philosophy.

I specialize in contemporary French philosophy and social thought, particularly 20th-century thinkers like Levinas. I am not an expert in drones, philosophy of science, or war ethics. Consequently, some expressed surprise that I undertook the translation of this book, but I would like to note a few of the shared interests that led me to it.

The closest connection is likely the "catastrophe" theories of French philosophers I have been interested in since the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, such as Nancy's "After Fukushima" and Dupuy's "Enlightened Doomsaying." In that context, I try to keep an eye on contemporary French political philosophy, technology theory, and environmental thought, and Chamayou stood out among them.

I personally visit Fukushima from time to time to see the progress of reconstruction. I encountered this book just as I learned that the exclusion zones, which were almost "unmanned" like the "end of the world," were about to be reborn as a center for remote technology development under the "Fukushima Innovation Coast Framework." I felt that this book, which deepens philosophical reflection on "remote technology," would provide valuable insights.

However, the issue of "unmanned" (dehumanized) systems itself is likely not unique to modern technology. Although the situations are entirely different, I believe the ideas of 20th-century Jewish thinkers who lived on the brink of "extinction"—such as Levinas, Arendt, or Anders, the author of "The Obsolescence of Man"—intersect with Chamayou's arguments in terms of considering the limits of the "human."

Another reason I worked on the translation was that it coincided with a period in Japan when the lifting of the ban on military research at universities and the argument for the "uselessness of the humanities" were being discussed simultaneously. From the perspective of the relationship between politics, capital, and academia, the viewpoint of this book should provide some clues.

A Theory of the Drone: Remote Technology and the "Unmanned" War

By Grégoire Chamayou, Translated by Yotetsu Tonaki

Akashi Shoten

352 pages, 2,400 yen (excluding tax)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.