On Cerebral Celebrity and Reality TV: Subjectivity in Times of Brain Scans and Psychotainment

The philosopher Daniel Dennett developed a theory of consciousness in which he replaces the so-called Cartesian theater with conceptions such as "fame in the brain" and "cerebral celebrity." The paradox of this is that Dennett unwittingly reintroduces the metaphors of the stage and the screen. The use of this trope is pursued in this essay in order to juxtapose Dennett's theory with reality TV and celebrity culture. This will allow us to sketch out late-modern subjectivity in times of brains scans and "psychotainment." Drawing on Walter Benjamin, Giorgi Agamben, Slavoj Žižek, and others, a plea is made for a materialism of the zero-level of subjectivity.