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David is a passionate philosopher of technology with a broad research interest. Not a day goes by that he doesn't think about the influence of technology on our being, environment and society, as you can see in his publications. And because science cannot be reduced to written text, scientific cooperation and the collaborative production of knowledge is an integral part of his academic life, which is why talks and oral presentations are essential in his evaluation.

Research Interest
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David’s research is situated at the intersection of media theory, STS, and philosophy of technology. He investigates how neurotechnologies—particularly cochlear implants—do not simply extend sensory capacities but fundamentally restructure the conditions under which the world becomes accessible. By analysing the architectural logic of such systems, David shows how perception, agency, and subjectivity are technologically conditioned, and how these configurations carry specific political and ethical consequences. My work combines philosophical inquiry with practice-based experimentation, treating technical artefacts not as illustrations but as epistemic instruments through which theoretical claims can be materially tested in concrete technological settings. 

Publications
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last update: 2026

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Pay. Play. Repeat. Die medienkulturelle Zeitgestalt des Münzphonographen in den USA, 1889–1896 [The media-cultural time form of the coin-operated phonograph in the USA, 1889–1896]. Bachelor Thesis 2018. Link. [Overview in En]

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Talks
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”Cyborg Voice – Der Auto-Tune Effekt als Klangästhetik des Humanoiden. Ein medienarchäologisches Statement“ [The Auto-Tune effect as a sound aesthetic of the humanoid. A media archaeological statement]. In: Wissen im Klang. Neue Wege der Musikästhetik, ed. José Gálvez, Jonas Reichert & Elizaveta Willert, 163–78. Bielefeld: Transcript. [Overview in En]

2025

2021

Geistervorlesung. Techniknahe Analyse in Zeiten der Pandemie [Ghost Lecture. Technological analysis in times of pandemic], Wolfgang Ernst (author),        ed.  Thomas Fecker & David Friedrich, Glückstadt: vwh.

2020

As Editor

As Author

The Duality of Sound. Eine medienwissenschaftliche Zeitkritik des sonischen Signalwesens. [A Media Scientific Critique of the Temporality of Sonic Signals]. Master Thesis 2021, Link. [Overview in En].

2026

Friedrich, David. “Neurotechnologies and their Hardwired Politics: Insights from the Cochlear Implant on World- Becoming and its Ethical Implications.“ Techné: Research in Philosophy and Technology 30, no. 2. Peer-Review, Q2 (Accepted/ In press).

Friedrich, David. “Embodied Agential Realism: Being-in-the-World with a Cochlear Implant.“ Chapter in Automation Cultures, edited by Sarah Collins, Ionat Zurr, Oron Catts, and Elizabeth Stephens. Palgrave Macmillan (Springer Nature), 2026. Peer-Review (Accepted/ In press).

Friedrich, David. “Beyond Acoustics: The Impact of Cochlear Implants on Sound Perception.” Nova Contemporary Music Journal 4, no. 1 (2025): 34–41. ISSN 2795-4803.

Friedrich, David. “Wax & Nickels: Die Aufnahme im Zeitalter der mechanischen Reproduzierbarkeit” [Recording in the age of mechanical reproducibility]. In Technologien des Singens. Ergebnisse des Forschungsprojekts und Beiträge zum Detmolder Symposion 2018, eds. Rebecca Grotjahn, Malte Kob, and Karin Martensen in collaboration with Philipp Kreisig (= Technologien des Singens 3). Allitera, 2025.

2024

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Napolitano, Domenico, David Friedrich, and Neta Alexander (Eds.). “Media and Disability – Part I: Organizing between bodies and technologies.” PuntOorg International Journal 9, no. 1 (2024). https://doi.org/10.19245/25.05.pij.9.1.1

Napolitano, Domenico, David Friedrich, and Neta Alexander (Eds.). “Media and Disability – Part 2: Sensorialities, practices, representations.“ PuntOorg International Journal 9, no. 2 (2024). https://doi.org/10.19245/25.05.pij.9.2.1

2021

last update: 2023

2023

11th International Scientific Meeting for Sound, Music and Musical Instrument Studies.

Let’s talk about the Cochlear Implant and its impact on our understanding of sound.

Coimbra / Portugal.

July 21-24, 2023.

NOVA Contemporary Music Meeting.

“Beyond Acoustics: The Impact of Cochlear Implants on Sound Perception“.

NOVA FCSH (Lisbon / Portugal).

May 3-5, 2023.

Department of Communication and Media Studies

“The Cochlear Implant: A Media Theory about its Influence on Human Sensory Experience“.

UWA (Perth / Australia).

February 10, 2023.

Arts and Humanities in Digital Transition 2023

“Beyond Biology: The Impact of Neurotechnology on Human Sensory Experience“.

NOVA FCSH (Lisbon / Portugal).

July 6-7, 2023.

Conservatorium of Music

“Hearing like a hammerhead shark? How a techno-philosophical investigation of the cochlear implant alters our understanding of sound perception.“.

UWA (Perth / Australia).

March 28, 2023.

Medien, Die Wir Meinen

“Let’s talk about the technológos of the cochlear implant“.

Humbolt University (Berlin / Germany).

February 08, 2023.

2022–2018

Musicological Society of Australia. Western Australia Chapter Conference.

“There is no Natural Hearing“.

UWA Conservatorium of Music (Perth / Australia). November 28, 2022.

Diminished Faculties: A Political Phenomenology of Impairment by Jonathan Sterne (book presentation)

Panelist (invited) together with Mara Mills & Neta Alexander

Online (USA /EUROPE / AUS)

June 20, 2022 (Link to record)

Akustische Dokumente/ Sonic Documents

"Wax & Coins. Das Phonogram im Zeitalter der mechanischen Reproduzierbarkeit“ [The Phonogram in the Age of Mechanical Reproducibility]

Bochum (Germany)

January 18, 2019

Technologies of Singing

“Wax & Nickels“

Detmold (Germany)

Novermber 2, 2018.

EMSD Forum

"Live. Recording. Sound— A (personal) Journey to our understanding of sound“

UWA Conservatorium of Music (Perth / Australia)

August 03, 2022.

Medien, die wir meinen

“The Duality of Sound“

Berlin (Germany)

February 17, 2021 [via Zoom]

31st. DVSM-Symposium

”Cyborg Voice. Die Klang-Ästhetik des Humanoiden als Diskursfigur“ [The sound aesthetics of the humanoid as a discourse figure]

Berlin (Germany)

November 19, 2018.

Game Circuit #18

“Ludus Computatoriu. Das Spiel im Schatten der Maschine“ [The game in the shadow of the machine]

Berlin (Germany)

May 12, 2017.

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