A phenomenology of drone warfare

Aghassi-Isfahani, Sarah-Nicole

Abstract

Motivated by the importance of phenomenological and ontological enquiry into drone warfare, this study aims to undertake a phenomenological interrogation of the drone. In particular, it is concerned with examining the weaponised drone’s existence and the embodied experience it imparts, to deepen the phenomenological examinations of modernday unmanned technological combat. The study draws on a variety of theoretical concepts that subscribe to ontological phenomenology’s philosophical approach and undertakes a qualitative examination of speeches, interviews, written texts and testimony of those who were inextricably linked to US drone warfare, as well as a case study of art which was created to visualise US drone warfare. It suggests that the narrative of drone warfare created by US government and military officials abstracted the drone’s true existence and embodied effect from the dominant discourse on drones. It posits that the drone is a technological entity within a cybernetic assemblage that is occupied and operated by humans. It suggests that the drone subjects drone personnel to ‘alienation’ and the ‘oblivion of Being’, and subjects civilians to ‘horrorism’ which strips them of their ‘ontological dignity’ as human beings. It proposes that art can provide sensory narratives to supplement the analysis of digital combat, such as drone warfare, to reveal the violence which is reduced and replaced by ‘synthetic images’. In general, the study illustrates the importance of employing ontological phenomenology when examining technology’s effect on humans.

Citation

Aghassi-Isfahani, S.-N. A phenomenology of drone warfare. (Thesis). Keele University. https://keele-repository.worktribe.com/output/1109332

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Mar 20, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 20, 2025
• Public URL: https://keele-repository.worktribe.com/output/1109332
• Award Date: 2025-03