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Vampyroteuthis Infernalis: A Treatise, with a Report by the Institut Scientifique de Recherche Paranaturaliste, Vol. 23
How far apart are humans from animals—even the “vampire squid from hell”? Playing the scientist/philosopher/provocateur, Vilém Flusser uses this question as a springboard to dive into a literal and a philosophical ocean. “The abyss that separates us” from the vampire squid (or vampire octopus, perhaps, since Vampyroteuthis infernalis inhabits its own phylogenetic order somewhere between the two) “is incomparably smaller than that which separates us from extraterrestrial life, as imagined in science fiction and sought by astrobiologists,” Flusser notes at the outset of the expedition. Part scientific treatise, part spoof, part philosophical discourse, part fable, Vampyroteuthis Infernalis gives its author ample room to ruminate on human—and nonhuman—life. Considering the human condition along with the vampire squid/octopus condition seems appropriate because “we are both products of an absurd coincidence . . . we are poorly programmed beings full of defects,” Flusser writes. Among other things, “we are both banished from much of life’s it into the abyss, we onto the surfaces of the continents. We have both lost our original home, the beach, and we both live in constrained conditions.” Thinking afresh about the life of an “other”—as different from ourselves as the vampire squid/octopus—complicates the linkages between animality and embodiment. Odd, and strangely compelling, Vampyroteuthis Infernalis offers up a unique posthumanist philosophical understanding of phenomenology and opens the way for a non-philosophy of life.
112 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
22 people are currently reading
868 people want to read
About the author
Vilém Flusser
78 books168 followersVilém Flusser was a philosopher born in Czechoslovakia. He lived for a long period in Brazil and later in France, and his works are written in several different languages.
His early work was marked by discussion of the thought of Martin Heidegger, and by the influence of existentialism and phenomenology. Phenomenology would play a major role in the transition to the later phase of his work, in which he turned his attention to the philosophy of communication and of artistic production. He contributed to the dichotomy in history: the period of image worship, and period of text worship, with deviations consequently into idolatry and "textolatry".
Flusser was born in 1920 in Prague into a family of Jewish intellectuals. His father, Gustav Flusser, studied mathematics and physics (under Albert Einstein among others). Flusser attended German and Czech primary schools and later a German grammar school.
In 1938, Flusser started to study philosophy at the Juridical Faculty of the Charles University in Prague. In 1939, shortly after the Nazi occupation, Flusser emigrated to London to continue his studies for one term at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Vilém Flusser lost all of his family in the German concentration camps: his father died in Buchenwald in 1940; his grandparents, his mother and his sister were brought to Auschwitz and later to Theresienstadt where they were killed. The next year, he emigrated to Brazil, living both in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
In 1960 he started to collaborate with the Brazilian Institute for Philosophy (IBF) in São Paulo and published in the Revista Brasileira de Filosofia; by these means he seriously approached the Brazilian intellectual community. During that decade he published and taught at several schools in São Paulo, being Lecturer for Philosophy of Science at the Escola Politécnica of the University of São Paulo and Professor of Philosophy of Communication at the Escola Dramática and the Escola Superior de Cinema in São Paulo. He also participated actively in the arts, collaborating with the Bienal de São Paulo, among other cultural events.
Beginning in the 1950s he taught philosophy and functioned as a journalist, before publishing his first book Língua e realidade (Language and Reality) in 1963. In 1972 he decided to leave Brazil.
He lived in both Germany and the South of France. To the end of his life, he was quite active writing and giving lectures around media theory. He died in 1991 in a car accident, while visiting his native Prague to give a lecture.
His early work was marked by discussion of the thought of Martin Heidegger, and by the influence of existentialism and phenomenology. Phenomenology would play a major role in the transition to the later phase of his work, in which he turned his attention to the philosophy of communication and of artistic production. He contributed to the dichotomy in history: the period of image worship, and period of text worship, with deviations consequently into idolatry and "textolatry".
Flusser was born in 1920 in Prague into a family of Jewish intellectuals. His father, Gustav Flusser, studied mathematics and physics (under Albert Einstein among others). Flusser attended German and Czech primary schools and later a German grammar school.
In 1938, Flusser started to study philosophy at the Juridical Faculty of the Charles University in Prague. In 1939, shortly after the Nazi occupation, Flusser emigrated to London to continue his studies for one term at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Vilém Flusser lost all of his family in the German concentration camps: his father died in Buchenwald in 1940; his grandparents, his mother and his sister were brought to Auschwitz and later to Theresienstadt where they were killed. The next year, he emigrated to Brazil, living both in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
In 1960 he started to collaborate with the Brazilian Institute for Philosophy (IBF) in São Paulo and published in the Revista Brasileira de Filosofia; by these means he seriously approached the Brazilian intellectual community. During that decade he published and taught at several schools in São Paulo, being Lecturer for Philosophy of Science at the Escola Politécnica of the University of São Paulo and Professor of Philosophy of Communication at the Escola Dramática and the Escola Superior de Cinema in São Paulo. He also participated actively in the arts, collaborating with the Bienal de São Paulo, among other cultural events.
Beginning in the 1950s he taught philosophy and functioned as a journalist, before publishing his first book Língua e realidade (Language and Reality) in 1963. In 1972 he decided to leave Brazil.
He lived in both Germany and the South of France. To the end of his life, he was quite active writing and giving lectures around media theory. He died in 1991 in a car accident, while visiting his native Prague to give a lecture.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
May 3, 2017
By establishing the truly sublime Vampire Squid from Hell as the negative image of human culture and being in the world, the authors produce an elegantly wrought "fable" that up-ends how we traditionally see both human and animal subjectivity. Indeed, it is the vast distance (as we see it) between the vampyroteuthis and the human that is the productive force behind some of the work's most profound insights. This begins with the premise that "we are estranged from the earth, and it from the sky" and that we share "analogous alienations." This construction, marvelous in its simplicity, is the frame through which we see the monstrous image of the vampyroteuthis as both a figure of horror and an uncanny reflection of what is "vampyroteuthic" about us.
It is easy, obviously, to get absorbed by the ideas in this book. Although there is just a bit of postmodern (post)uring (like putting parentheses in the middle of words) this small book contains an enormous amount of insight. It should also be said, as a warning, that, after reading it, you will be talking about vampire squids with your friends and loved ones probably just a little too much.
It is easy, obviously, to get absorbed by the ideas in this book. Although there is just a bit of postmodern (post)uring (like putting parentheses in the middle of words) this small book contains an enormous amount of insight. It should also be said, as a warning, that, after reading it, you will be talking about vampire squids with your friends and loved ones probably just a little too much.
December 16, 2020
Schitterend filosofisch essay over de gelijkenis tussen de vampierinktvis en de mens, met als centrale vraag hoe ver ze uit elkaar staan of net niet. Deels spoof en hoax, deels filosofisch discours en zelfverklaarde fabel, die tussendoor een geheel eigen interpretatie geeft aan de fenomenologie.
Van Flusser is ook zijn boek over fotografie een grote aanrader (nog steeds te krijgen bij uitgeverij IJzer).
Meer (leuke) info op: http://eliserigot.com/content/Vampyro...
En op: https://nl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampi...
Van Flusser is ook zijn boek over fotografie een grote aanrader (nog steeds te krijgen bij uitgeverij IJzer).
Meer (leuke) info op: http://eliserigot.com/content/Vampyro...
En op: https://nl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampi...
September 24, 2012
If you read one book about vampire squids from hell this year, make it this one. I learned more about humans and cephalopods in this slim volume than I would have on a cruise with Jacque Cousteau (and that is taking into consideration that he is dead and I do not speak French.) It is funny and insightful. It is thoughtfully written. It is a little gem.
September 26, 2025
"We feel a connection with life-forms supported by bones, while other forms of life disgust us. . . . The more disgusting something is, the further removed it is from humans on the phylogenetic tree."
This book is incredibly unique as a concept, but it's also kind of a mess, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. There's a lot of philosophy about sex and gender roles and perception of anatomy and so on, but some of it feels like too much of a deviation from the main themes of the book.
"[W]ritten language deforms thoughts with the stringency of its rules."
The authors also make some dubious claims about the anatomy of cephalopods, such as the existence and use of their penile trifecta. I don't know if this was deliberate misinformation (the book is supposedly a “fable” after all) or a product of the piece being outdated, as it was written over 30 years ago.
This book is incredibly unique as a concept, but it's also kind of a mess, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. There's a lot of philosophy about sex and gender roles and perception of anatomy and so on, but some of it feels like too much of a deviation from the main themes of the book.
"[W]ritten language deforms thoughts with the stringency of its rules."
The authors also make some dubious claims about the anatomy of cephalopods, such as the existence and use of their penile trifecta. I don't know if this was deliberate misinformation (the book is supposedly a “fable” after all) or a product of the piece being outdated, as it was written over 30 years ago.
April 30, 2024
fun and fabulous! highly recommend
February 20, 2018
Unfortunately, this seems pretty silly - and I cannot see its point. The philosophy is sophomoric (a lot of stuff about how we cannot be objective about what it is to be human merely because we are human). And the detailed descriptions of the biology of mollusks is boring and (for me at least) hard to follow.
May 28, 2018
3.5*
"scientists conduct investigations without taking into account the great complexities of humanity -- sullied as it is with experiences, dreams, and wishes -- that silently underpin their findings"
"scientists conduct investigations without taking into account the great complexities of humanity -- sullied as it is with experiences, dreams, and wishes -- that silently underpin their findings"
December 22, 2022
Desde que vi sus ilustraciones me di a la tarea de conseguir esta especie de ensayo-ficción. Aunque por momentos es demasiado denso, regala momentos de una claridad sublime: «El Vampyroteuthis infernalis es nuestro infierno: él encarna aquello que por vivir en la tierra hemos sumergido en la profundidad de la conciencia». La edición de Herder es una chulada.
November 15, 2020
OK. One of the strangest books I know.
“The underlying purpose of all vampyroteuthic communication is to deceive the other in order to devour it. Its is a culture of deceit, pretense, and falsehood. Broadly speaking, one could even call it a culture of art.”
“The underlying purpose of all vampyroteuthic communication is to deceive the other in order to devour it. Its is a culture of deceit, pretense, and falsehood. Broadly speaking, one could even call it a culture of art.”
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May 14, 2019I'm so confused
April 15, 2020
Bioluminescent connections bubbleseasoned by ecstasizing facts.
Hear this, my lover:
One of your three octopenises, the spoonshaped one, moves between the teeth of my tongue, my Radula, stimulating ovulation and the excretion of specific hormones.
Textpath:
Defines the organism—wanders around its possible Dasein—puts it beautifully, evoking even St Francis: Geist, spirit or freedom of spirit, "is the attempt to overcome the constraints of Dasein"—Overcome Anthropocentrism and examine life constraints from the perspective of the Vampyroteuthis—Wanders through Reich's psychoanalysis theories—Darwin x Lammarck to understand whether the Dasein is conditioned by environment or hereditary factors—None and both: the concept of Species being abstract—It is not the origin or the extinction which is important but the existence—Its paradise, our hell, both our beaches—Catchword for this existential conversation between Human and Vampyroteuthis is "custom". Presets?
Not withtout encountering the unacustomary will one be able to recognize what is the customary and, most importantly, to change it. Resets.
Touch the seabed like an open palm.
Hear this, my lover:
One of your three octopenises, the spoonshaped one, moves between the teeth of my tongue, my Radula, stimulating ovulation and the excretion of specific hormones.
Textpath:
Defines the organism—wanders around its possible Dasein—puts it beautifully, evoking even St Francis: Geist, spirit or freedom of spirit, "is the attempt to overcome the constraints of Dasein"—Overcome Anthropocentrism and examine life constraints from the perspective of the Vampyroteuthis—Wanders through Reich's psychoanalysis theories—Darwin x Lammarck to understand whether the Dasein is conditioned by environment or hereditary factors—None and both: the concept of Species being abstract—It is not the origin or the extinction which is important but the existence—Its paradise, our hell, both our beaches—Catchword for this existential conversation between Human and Vampyroteuthis is "custom". Presets?
Not withtout encountering the unacustomary will one be able to recognize what is the customary and, most importantly, to change it. Resets.
Touch the seabed like an open palm.
May 9, 2019
Mergulhinho de leve no abismo do corpo e da consciência. Meio estória de terror, meio tratado científico, meio expedição exploratória, meio experimento filosófico, meio manifesto político, esse monstro de cinco metades vai acariciar seu corpo e seu cérebro com seus tentáculos dentados até te levar a insights teóricos fulgurantes, que as lulas vampíricas do inferno chamam de orgasmo.
RELEITURA: da segunda vez é ainda melhor. esse livro é um pequeno programa para o diálogo com o extra-humano, com pitadas de esquizoanálise e humor sacana.
RELEITURA: da segunda vez é ainda melhor. esse livro é um pequeno programa para o diálogo com o extra-humano, com pitadas de esquizoanálise e humor sacana.
October 8, 2023
This has been a terrible waste of time. A biological introduction to this species, followed by an incredibly boring comparison towards humankind, a comparison that is at the same time useless, arbitrary and non-constructive. It's a shame Flusser dares to call this a fabulation, even more if we keep in mind this book was written in 1989 - Haraway's cyborg had already been here for a while, just to say, and Deleuze as well. Sadly enough, Flusser sees evolution as non-creative and limited, human sociality as a constant fight and the MAN as the only valuable representative of our species.
August 18, 2016
Definitely my favourite of the books I've read so far this year.
May 22, 2018
This is a fine example of the value of the constant comparative method as played out through phenomenological inquiry. Because of this, Vamp. Inf. will likely infuriate or simply underwhelm strict adherents to analytical philosophy or (computerized) objectivism; similarly, it will likely delight enthusiasts or practitioners of critical theory, media theory, and the sociology of science.
A cautionary note: Flusser, like McLuhan, was as much (if not more) of a provocateur as he was an academician.
Read from the perspective of the sociology of science, it acts as a warning: to objectivize phenomena is to distance them from human Dasein; to distance them from human Desein is to increase the alienation central to the absurdity of the human condition. (Flusser was, after all, an enthusiastic existentialist.) Such increased alienation does little good unless one is to argue that the goal of science is the dehumanization of the world.
Read from the perspective of media theory, it acts as a whimsical phenomenology of inscription and memory: the relationship between language and writing, writing and inscription, inscription and memory is neatly summarized (although not with the depth present in his other works).
Really a fine work. Thanks to University of Minnesota Press for publishing works like this that do not fit into the standard notion of 'academic manuscript.'
A cautionary note: Flusser, like McLuhan, was as much (if not more) of a provocateur as he was an academician.
Read from the perspective of the sociology of science, it acts as a warning: to objectivize phenomena is to distance them from human Dasein; to distance them from human Desein is to increase the alienation central to the absurdity of the human condition. (Flusser was, after all, an enthusiastic existentialist.) Such increased alienation does little good unless one is to argue that the goal of science is the dehumanization of the world.
Read from the perspective of media theory, it acts as a whimsical phenomenology of inscription and memory: the relationship between language and writing, writing and inscription, inscription and memory is neatly summarized (although not with the depth present in his other works).
Really a fine work. Thanks to University of Minnesota Press for publishing works like this that do not fit into the standard notion of 'academic manuscript.'
February 4, 2021
One of my favorite books. I'm often recommending this to others. But it is hard to describe. I've never really read anything like it.
The first chapter compares Genus Octopus with Genus Homo. Rarely does one encounter such wildly creating thinking that can craft a narrative based on the comparative evolution of these 2 Genuses. Then in subsequent chapters we work through Phyllum Mollusca, Class Cephalopoda, and Species Vampryotheusis (the vampire squid). Flusser finds destiny, mystery and terror in these taxonomic wanderings.
You've never read a book like this. It is truly "sui generis".
In the latter chapter he freely admits to wild speculation, though it is not as if the first half of the book was anything like rigorous science. He explores in turn Vampryotheusian Thought, Social Life, and Art. The last chapter on Art allows him to give a précis of his communication theory that he is more widely known for.
The book is only 120 pages long, and Flusser is a clear, lucid writer. So it is not a difficult book to read. All pleasure.
The first chapter compares Genus Octopus with Genus Homo. Rarely does one encounter such wildly creating thinking that can craft a narrative based on the comparative evolution of these 2 Genuses. Then in subsequent chapters we work through Phyllum Mollusca, Class Cephalopoda, and Species Vampryotheusis (the vampire squid). Flusser finds destiny, mystery and terror in these taxonomic wanderings.
You've never read a book like this. It is truly "sui generis".
In the latter chapter he freely admits to wild speculation, though it is not as if the first half of the book was anything like rigorous science. He explores in turn Vampryotheusian Thought, Social Life, and Art. The last chapter on Art allows him to give a précis of his communication theory that he is more widely known for.
The book is only 120 pages long, and Flusser is a clear, lucid writer. So it is not a difficult book to read. All pleasure.
August 8, 2025
Interesting facts about the vampire squid. What I enjoyed most was how insects were brought into the discussion - the notion of an entire ant hill or bee hive being an individual is just really interesting to me.
I thought the parts on the sexual life of the vampire squid, especially regarding its orgasms, could be developed more. There was a lot of potential in there to think more about what orgasm does - it reminded me a lot of what Paul Preciado tried to think of with the concept of potentia gaudi.
Other interesting points include the notion of character armor (28), the digestive as repressing the sexual in human beings (49), and how political freedom from the perspective of the vampire squid is found in hate (59).
But overall not sure if this text really left much of a whole impact on me. Just felt like a short fun collection of insights.
I thought the parts on the sexual life of the vampire squid, especially regarding its orgasms, could be developed more. There was a lot of potential in there to think more about what orgasm does - it reminded me a lot of what Paul Preciado tried to think of with the concept of potentia gaudi.
Other interesting points include the notion of character armor (28), the digestive as repressing the sexual in human beings (49), and how political freedom from the perspective of the vampire squid is found in hate (59).
But overall not sure if this text really left much of a whole impact on me. Just felt like a short fun collection of insights.
April 26, 2022
The premise is a bit hammy: aliens are already among us! They just happen to live in the ocean. It's fair enough to emphasize the brilliance of cephalopods and it's clear that speciesism has prevented us from forming less destructive relations to non-human animals. The trouble is that the text seems to have taken to heart a broadly Heideggerean polemic against Enlightenment humanism. A less egicidal approach is possible. Spinoza gives us the clue: human behavior is not a kingdom within a kingdom sequestered from the rest of nature. One wonders what this book would look like rewritten more geometrico.
March 9, 2020
Very interesting book, with some biological facts that provides enough information about the life underwater. Although the book felt very philosophical and existentialist, nothing bad with it, but I was expecting it to be more science focused, at the end of the book you get drawings and diagrams more in that point.
Anyway, the book opens the door to the understanding of how minimal and abstract we are, and how everything in the world is connected. We need to be more observant towards where are we taking the world and the other species.
Anyway, the book opens the door to the understanding of how minimal and abstract we are, and how everything in the world is connected. We need to be more observant towards where are we taking the world and the other species.
September 5, 2022
What did I even read??
I don't know how I heard about this, and I don't remember why I thought I'd like it. But I do remember I thought this was a spoof, like the science books put out by McSweeneys.
And it turns out, I was way wrong. This was a work of complete seriousness, if not sincerity. Fundamentally, this book is built around the question: "Sure, we know how people think about the world, and about vampire squid. But how do vampire squid think the world, and people?"
It's super weird, and pretty fast for a work of philosophy. I liked it a lot.
I don't know how I heard about this, and I don't remember why I thought I'd like it. But I do remember I thought this was a spoof, like the science books put out by McSweeneys.
And it turns out, I was way wrong. This was a work of complete seriousness, if not sincerity. Fundamentally, this book is built around the question: "Sure, we know how people think about the world, and about vampire squid. But how do vampire squid think the world, and people?"
It's super weird, and pretty fast for a work of philosophy. I liked it a lot.
July 20, 2024
I feel like I should have appreciated this more than I did. The text just didn't really go into my head at times, even though it was all fairly straightforward (granted you're somewhat familiar with Heideggerean phenomenology). It was also really creative and interesting, so why I didn't love it more is completely beyond me. I really appreciated reflections on its status as a fable, as well as the discussion of humans directing art not intersubjectively, but rather materially. But overall, it just wasn't my favourite.
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November 14, 2020To what extent can Flusser’s speculations actually approach a nonhuman alterity, and to what extent does the vampyroteuthis figure as just an inversion of human values, a convenient deep-sea antichrist? Difficult to say, though this is one of the most agile texts I’ve found for working through that particular snarl, and especially useful for the way it articulates the dark ethical upshots of thinking outside ourselves.
February 10, 2020
Flusser ha a way of words that engulfs or sucks you in, like Baudrillard in "Seduction". It's much more about how the words are connected on the page than what they actually refer too. It's a thought exercise, a massage for the brain, and it's not pretending to be more than that. It uses the power of the metaphor as a vehicle for deep, post-lexical understanding of the word we inhabit.
July 29, 2024
This "fable" considers the view of the vampire squid, anatomically the furthest from humans, to produce an alien point of view, continuing a long history of such thought experiments. The signaling communication lights of the squid is equated with human created software. The illustrations are very detailed.
December 17, 2017
Interesting and different perspective, scientific insight was nice, however it struck me more as a philosophical book than purely science. Opinions that were strange to swallow at first, and then became quite intriguing later for the piece.
August 22, 2021
A strange mix of science fiction and philosophy that every would be worldbuilder or monster creator should. And beyond that, we all need to consider the nature of our own intelligence before we can comprehend, or realize we never will fully comprehend, the intelligences around us.
November 12, 2022
Fantastic. And a fable indeed. Vocabulary would be somewhat prohibiting to readers without philosophy background.
A bit dated, also, with the gender stuff.
But a great stretching of the brain. Very posthumanist.
A bit dated, also, with the gender stuff.
But a great stretching of the brain. Very posthumanist.
August 9, 2020
A bit dry, but still one of the best books of octopus philosophy I've ever read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews