Metapresentiality: a foundational concept for a critical theory of digital health

Abstract

In this text, I propose the concept of “metapresentiality” as a fundamental element for a Critical Theory of Digital Health. First, I present the concepts of technique, technology, and technical object, central to the theories of Álvaro Vieira Pinto and Milton Santos. Secondly, based on Luciano Floridi’s philosophy of information, I question the relevance of the dichotomy real-material-concrete vs. digital-virtual-informational as an ontological foundation for concepts of reality, place, and presence, highlighting the notions of virtual reality and extended reality. Thirdly, I introduce an etymological-historical critique of the series presence-telepresence-metapresence, focusing on the emerging notion of meta-presentiality in the form of proto-concept and its eventual formalization as a conceptual foundation for a socio-technical appropriation and technosocial integration of digital technologies. Finally, I discuss Digital Health as a field of knowledge, techniques and practices and evaluate epistemological and pragmatic advantages of metapresentiality as a concept in the fields of computing, education and health.

Keywords

• Information Theory
• Digital Technology
• Digital Health
• Telemedicine