The Machinery of Use: On the Ontology of Humans as Products

This chapter interrogates the transformation of Logos, once the principle of reason and order, into logo, the branded emblem of consumption. It explores the shift from transcendence to commodification, where symbols no longer reveal truth but conceal it beneath layers of desire and spectacle. The text distinguishes control from usage, arguing that while control limits freedom, usage annihilates personhood by converting individuals into functional instruments of corporate systems. It introduces the concept of the human-as-product, examining how identities are manufactured and endlessly reproduced for profit. The discussion extends to the ethics of usage, asserting that the machinery of power no longer operates through oppression but through consumption, dissolving human essence into a logic of utility. Finally, it calls upon philosophy to unmask this ontological violence and to strike a spark of resistance in a world where rebellion itself risks commodification.