Angeletics / Messaging Theory

Dear Colleagues,

The term angeletics comes from Greek angelos / angelia, meaning messenger / messages. We use these terms when we refer to angels or divine messengers. There is a long tradition in theology and religious studies called angelology. Angeletics is in this regard different from angelology. Its purpose is to study the phenomenon of messages and messengers within the boundaries of the condition humaine, having as its primary object human communication but including technical and natural processes as well. For the philosophers of the Enlightenment, such as Immanuel Kant, the censorship-free distribution of scientific knowledge through the press belongs to the core of a free society. The question today is then to what extent the internet creates a new angeletic space giving rise to new synergies of messages and messengers beyond the hierarchical structure of mass media.  Angeletics is the general term used for the cultural, social and philosophical phenomenon of messages and messengers, while ‘messaging theory’ is used more specifically for the phenomenon’s scientific and technological aspects.

See: Rafael Capurro - John Holgate (eds.). Messages and Messengers. Angeletics as an Approach to the Phenomenology of Communication. Vol.5, Munich 2011.

Prof. Dr. Rafael Capurro
Dr Michael Eldred
Dr John D. Holgate
Guest Editors