| In comparing 18th century public culture
and contemporary public culture, nothing is more striking that our epoch's
reticence about publishing anonymously, our slavish obedience to the dreary
requirement that we take "responsibility" for what we write by
signing our name to it. By contrast, the public intellectuals of the Enlightenment
understood that anonymous publication often enhances the performative invention
and generic variety, the truthfulness and wit of public culture. In this
short presentation, I will explore some celebrated instances of Enlightenment
anonymity, and ask questions about the possibilities for practicing enlightened
anonymity in our own day. For example, what sort of on-line user interface
would make enlightened anonymity both possible and consequential? |