Stephen Downes

I don't think you should necessarily accept the argument presented in this paper, but it is work considering the reconceptualization of some of our typical frames that is offered by the author. The idea, in a nutshell, is to include the object - that is, for example, the world around us - as a signatory in the social contract. How does the object participate? As in, for example, the Goya painting: "A pair of enemies are fighting in quicksand... the game is no longer played by two parties, but by three; no longer two subjects, but a pair and the object."