Omnipresent, core descriptors of cyberpunk philosophy

Bret Bernhoft February 13, 2026 at 04:00 250 views 2 comments

Cyberpunk stories intrigue me. As does the real history and argued philosophies found therein.

As an expression of what has been learned since discovering William Gibson's "Neuromancer" ten years ago, I submit the following words as being descriptive of all cyberpunk philosophy:

Blasphemous
Implosive
Commodified
Cybernautical
Tricky

I also want to add "boundaryless" to the list, but as much is sufficiently implied by the other 5 words.

Any feedback on these thoughts is treasured.

Edit:

The book which opened my thinking to cyberpunk (other than science fiction stories) was "The Routledge Companion to Cyberpunk Culture". I highly recommend reviewing this book if you are curious about the larger context cyberpunk fits within.

Comments (2)

L'éléphant February 13, 2026 at 04:16 #1040530 0 likes

Nihilistic should be on the list.

Tom Storm February 15, 2026 at 22:27 #1040882 0 likes

Reply to Bret Bernhoft I’ve always taken cyberpunk to be an aestheticized form of postmodernism that riffs off Weber’s idea of disenchantment, the sense that modernity drains the world of meaning, leaving only systems, bureaucracy, and efficiency (technology). The bad guys won and untamed capitalism has reached its inevitable resolutions. It's obviously a play on where we have been since the mid 20th century. A film noir aesthetic seems to be a key - there is usually someone with integrity in a world where moral codes no longer seem to apply.