Essay on Bernard Stiegler’s history of mnemotechnics

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to present history of memory techniques as it described by French philosopher Bernard Stiegler.      It is shown that Stiegler speaks fr om the point of view of humanistic marxism arguing that the positive development
of mnemotechnics is determined by their integration into symbolic relations, outside of which they becomes a means
of consumer capitalism. History of mnemotechnics is divided on two large periods — preindustrial and industrial, where the
former is determined by the dominance of religion, politics and culture, and the latter — by the law of surplus value. It is
analyzed Stiegler’s understanding of mnemotechnics as «epiphylogenesis» or «third memory». The main features
of mnemotechnical evolution, from the first inscriptions on stone tools to today’s global digital retentional apparatus,
is reviewed.