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What Is That Thing Called Philosophy of Technology? - R
HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY – Vol. IV - What Is That Thing Called Philosophy of Technology? - R. J. Gómez WHAT IS THAT THING CALLED PHILOSOPHY OF TECHNOLOGY? R. J. Gómez Department of Philosophy. California State University (LA). USA Keywords: Adorno, Aristotle, Bunge, Ellul, Feenberg, Habermas, Heidegger, Horkheimer, Jonas, Latour, Marcuse, Mumford, Naess, Shrader-Frechette, artifact, assessment, determinism, ecosophy, ends, enlightenment, efficiency, epistemology, enframing, ideology, life-form, megamachine, metaphysics, method, naturalistic, fallacy, new, ethics, progress, rationality, rule, science, techno-philosophy Contents 1. Introduction 2. Locating technology with respect to science 2.1. Structure and Content 2.2. Method 2.3. Aim 2.4. Pattern of Change 3. Locating philosophy of technology 4. Early philosophies of technology 4.1. Aristotelianism 4.2. Technological Pessimism 4.3. Technological Optimism 4.4. Heidegger’s Existentialism and the Essence of Technology 4.5. Mumford’s Megamachinism 4.6. Neomarxism 4.6.1. Adorno-Horkheimer 4.6.2. Marcuse 4.6.3. Habermas 5. Recent philosophies of technology 5.1. L. Winner 5.2. A. Feenberg 5.3. EcosophyUNESCO – EOLSS 6. Technology and values 6.1. Shrader-Frechette Claims 6.2. H Jonas 7. Conclusions SAMPLE CHAPTERS Glossary Bibliography Biographical Sketch Summary A philosophy of technology is mainly a critical reflection on technology from the point of view of the main chapters of philosophy, e.g., metaphysics, epistemology and ethics. Technology has had a fast development since the middle of the 20th century , especially ©Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS) HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY – Vol. IV - What Is That Thing Called Philosophy of Technology? - R. -
Book Review: Amazing Ourselves to Death - Neil Postman’S Brave New World Revisited Lance E
L. E. Mason / Journal of Media Literacy Education 7 (1), 80 - 82 Available online at www.jmle.org The National Association for Media Literacy Education’s Journal of Media Literacy Education 7(1), 80 - 82 Book Review: Amazing Ourselves to Death - Neil Postman’s Brave New World Revisited Lance E. Mason Department of Education, Indiana University Amazing Ourselves to Death: Neil Postman’s Brave New World Revisited by Lance Strate. 2014. New York: Peter Lang. Media scholar Neil Postman wrote approximately 25 books during his career, the most influential of which was titled Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. In his book, Postman (1985) claims that the epistemology of television, which had become the dominant media form by the 1980s, had eroded the substance and coherence of public discourse, which increasingly took the form of entertainment. More recently, the media environment has undergone further dramatic changes with the emergence of the Internet, Web 2.0, and social media. Postman died in 2003, and while he continued to publish until shortly before his death, he never updated his most popular work to account for these changes. Postman’s former student, media ecologist Lance Strate, now takes up this task. His new book examines Postman’s positions in light of the contemporary media landscape. His goals are twofold: first, to summarize Postman’s positions and demonstrate their continued relevance; second, to present Postman’s approach to media analysis, which is grounded in the field that Postman originated, media ecology. As such, Strate adheres closely to Postman’s original ideas and carefully explicates them throughout each chapter. -
The Fourth Industrial Revolution: How the EU Can Lead It
EUV0010.1177/1781685818762890European ViewSchäfer 762890research-article2018 Article European View 2018, Vol. 17(1) 5 –12 The fourth industrial © The Author(s) 2018 https://doi.org/10.1177/1781685818762890DOI: 10.1177/1781685818762890 revolution: How the EU journals.sagepub.com/home/euv can lead it Matthias Schäfer Abstract The fourth industrial revolution is different from the previous three. This is because machines and artificial intelligence play a significant role in enhancing productivity and wealth creation, which directly changes and challenges the role of human beings. The fourth industrial revolution will also intensify globalisation. Therefore, technology will become much more significant, because regions and societies that cope positively with the technological impact of the fourth industrial revolution will have a better economic and social future. This article argues that the EU can play an important role in developing an environment appropriate for the fourth industrial revolution, an environment that is vibrant and open to new technologies. Member states would profit from an EU-wide coordinated framework for this area. The EU has to establish new common policies for the market-oriented diffusion and widespread use of new technologies. Keywords Fourth industrial revolution, Technology policy, Industrial policy, Leadership Introduction Historically there have been four industrial revolutions (see Schwab 2016). The first began in the early nineteenth century, when the power of steam and water dramatically increased the productivity of human (physical) labour. The second revolution started almost a hundred years later with electricity as its key driver. Mass industrial production Corresponding author: M. Schäfer, Department Politics and Consulting, Head of the Team for Economic Policy, Konrad-Adenauer- Stiftung, Berlin, Germany. -
Plusminus Ver5frontace.Indd
[ + | - ] _SPATIAL INCUBATION OF INTUITIVE MITIGATION. by Christopher Cole Robertson A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture in Architecture MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY Bozeman, Montana November, 2007 ©COPYRIGHT by Christopher Cole Robertson 2007 All Rights Reserved ii APPROVAL of a thesis submitted by Christopher Cole Robertson This thesis has been read by each member of the thesis committee and has been found to be satisfactory regarding content, English usage, format, citation, bibliographic style, and consistency, and is ready for submission to the Division of Graduate Education. Michael Everts Approved for the Department Montana State University School of Architecture Steven Juroszek Approved for the Division of Graduate Education Dr. Carl A. Fox iii STATEMENT OF PERMISSION TO USE In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a master’s degree at Montana State University, I agree that the Library shall make it available to borrowers under rules of the Library. If I have indicated my intention to copyright this thesis by including a copyright notice page, copying is allowable only for scholarly purposes, consistent with “fair use” as prescribed in the U.S. Copyright Law. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this thesis in whole or in parts may be granted only by the copyright holder. Christopher Cole Robertson November, 2007 iv To my family and close friends. Thank you for your help. v TABLE OF CONTENTS 0. Introduction .................................................................... 5 1. Cultural Characteristics of Context ................................ 4 2. Examining Intuition ...................................................... 29 2.5 Tooling + Process ........................................................ 47 3. Spatial Incubation ......................................................... -
Media Syllabus
Sociology of Television & Media SOCL 299 Dr. Ellis Jones Fall 2010 Office: Beaven 221 TTH 12:30pm-1:45pm Office Hours: T 2:00pm-3:00pm Swords 302 TH 11:00am-12:00pm [email protected] Office Phone: 508-793-2367 I. OVERVIEW This course investigates the evolving role of television in shaping our understanding of, and relationship to, the world. Our inquiry will focus on the economic, political, social, and ecological implications of television as it relates to democracy, consumerism, human relationships, and how we make sense of the world both as individuals and as a society. More specifically, we’ll be examining the nature of entertainment, advertising, news, and the institutions that create television programming. How does the news shape reality? How does advertising actually influence human behavior? How does entertainment impact how we perceive our own lives? Who decides what program choices exist on television? The course will emphasize deep reading, critical thinking, a variety of audio/video materials, in-depth research, and the development of a resource- and skill-set that will allow you to further your critical consumption of television on your own. OBJECTIVES 1. Achieve a basic understanding of the national and global social transformation resulting from the evolution of television and related mass media. 2. Grasp the many complexities and contradictions that television and related mass media bring to our ability to distinguish the difference between fantasy and reality. 3. Gain the ability to think critically about the creation, distribution, and both intended and unintended consequences of television and related mass media on a macro and micro level. -
Technology, Development and Economic Crisis: the Schumpeterian Legacy
CIMR Research Working Paper Series Working Paper No. 23 Technology, development and economic crisis: the Schumpeterian legacy by Rinaldo Evangelista University of Camerino Piazza Cavour, 19/F, 62032 Camerino (IT) +39-0737-403074 [email protected] June 2015 ISSN 2052-062X Abstract This contribution aims at highlighting the complex, non-linear and potentially contradictory nature of the relationships between technological progress, economic growth and social development, in particular within the context of market based economies. The main (provocative) argument put forward in the paper is that the recent neo-Schumpeterian literature, while providing fundamental contributions to our understanding of innovation, has contributed to the rising of a positivistic reading of the relationship between technology, economy and society, with technology being able to guaranty strong economic growth and (implicitly) social welfare. This is confirmed by the fact that, contrary to other influential heterodox economic schools and Schumpeter himself, in the recent neo- Schumpeterian literature technology is only rarely associated to macroeconomic market failures such as systemic crises, structural unemployment, and the growth of social and economic inequalities. It is also argued that the emergence of a “positivistic bias” in the neo-Schumpeterian literature has been associated to the dominance of a supply-side and micro-based view of the technology-economy relationships. Key words: Technology, Innovation, Schumpeter, Development, Crisis JEL codes: B52, O00, O30. 2 1. Introduction There is no doubt that the last economic crisis, with its depth, extension and length, could have, at least in principle, the potentiality of shaking at the fundamentals the dominant neo-liberal economic thinking and policy framework. -
Taking Technology Seriously: Introduction to the Special Issue on New Technologies and Global Environmental Politics • Simon Nicholson and Jesse L
Taking Technology Seriously: Introduction to the Special Issue on New Technologies and Global Environmental Politics • Simon Nicholson and Jesse L. Reynolds* Human beings are at once makers of and made by technology. The ability to wield tools was an essential ingredient in propelling an otherwise unremarkable ape to a position of dominance over ecological and even planetary affairs. This dominance has been attained through a remaking of the physical world and has produced a planet fundamentally altered. Technology, this is to say, has been central to history and human-induced environmental change. Our earliest significant environ- mental impacts appear to have been mass extinctions of megafauna, especially in North and South America, Australia, and the Pacific Islands, enabled by hunting and trapping tools and techniques. These were followed by large-scale land use changes from the rise of agriculture, another early set of technologies that were key to Homo sapiens’ success (Boivin et al. 2016). Technology presents a paradox. Existing, emerging, and anticipated technol- ogies offer remarkable possibilities for human well-being and the environmental condition. Since 1900, global average life expectancy has more than doubled and continues to rise (Roser et al. 2013). Most people can access information and educational opportunities that in the not-too-distant past were restricted to a tiny elite. The growth of farmland—which may be the leading direct driver of change in nature (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services 2019)—has recently been reversed through agricultural intensification (World Bank, n.d.). Ozone-depleting substances have been largely replaced by synthetic substitutes. -
A Systematic Review of Methods for Health Care Technology Horizon Scanning
AHRQ Health Care Horizon Scanning System A Systematic Review of Methods for Health Care Technology Horizon Scanning Prepared for: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 540 Gaither Road Rockville, MD 20850 Contract No. 290-2010-00006-C Prepared by: Fang Sun, M.D., Ph.D. Karen Schoelles, M.D., S.M., F.A.C.P ECRI Institute 5200 Butler Pike Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462 AHRQ Publication No. 13-EHC104-EF August 2013 This report incorporates data collected during implementation of the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Health Care Horizon Scanning System by ECRI Institute under contract to AHRQ, Rockville, MD (Contract No. 290-2010-00006-C). The findings and conclusions in this document are those of the authors, who are responsible for its content, and do not necessarily represent the views of AHRQ. No statement in this report should be construed as an official position of AHRQ or of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The information in this report is intended to identify resources and methods for improving the AHRQ Health Care Horizon Scanning System in the future. The purpose of the AHRQ Health Care Horizon Scanning System is to assist funders of research in making well-informed decisions in designing and funding comparative-effectiveness research. This report may periodically be assessed for the urgency to update. If an assessment is done, the resulting surveillance report describing the methodology and findings will be found on the Effective Health Care Program website at: www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov. -
The Effect of Technological Change on Firm
The Effect of Technological Change on Firm Survival and Growth - Evidence from Technology Standards Justus Baron∗ Daniel F. Spulbery Northwestern University Northwestern University April 21, 2017 Abstract We analyze the effect of technological change on firm exits, establishment entry and exit, and the creation and destruction of jobs. We make use of a novel measure of technological change: technology standards. Replacements and withdrawals of standards provide information about technological obsolescence, whereas references among standards signal new uses for existing technologies. Relating standards to firm cohorts using the date of publication, we find that the withdrawal of standards induces a significant increase in the rates of firm deaths, establishment exits and job destruction in the firms associated with the replaced standards. New standards building upon existing standards however have the opposite effect, as firms associated with the technological vintage being referenced create new establishments at a higher rate. JEL-Classification: L15, L16, O33 Keywords: creative destruction, business dynamics, technological change, tech- nology standards ∗Corresponding Author. Research Associate, Searle Center on Law, Regulation, and Economic Growth, Northwestern University Law School, 375 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611. E-mail: [email protected]. yElinor Hobbs Distinguished Professor of International Business, Department of Strategy, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2001 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL, 60208, and Research Director, Searle Center on Law, Regulation, and Economic Growth, Northwestern University Law School, Chicago, IL. E-mail: [email protected]. 1 Introduction Technological change has long been recognized as an important driver of economic growth (Solow, 1957). Business dynamics, including the entry and exit of firms, and the reallocation of labor through the creation and destruction of jobs in different firms, are another important driver of economic growth (Jovanovic, 1982). -
TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE and OPPORTUNITIES for DEVELOPMENT AS a MOVING TARGET Distr
TD(X)/RT.1/9 UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT UNCTAD X High-level Round Table on Trade and Development: Directions for the Twenty-first Century TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR DEVELOPMENT AS A MOVING TARGET Distr. GENERAL TD(X)/RT.1/9 20 December 1999 Original: ENGLISH UNCTAD X High-level Round Table on Trade and Development: Directions for the Twenty-first Century Bangkok, 12 February 2000 TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR DEVELOPMENT AS A MOVING TARGET* Paper prepared by Carlota Perez Independent Consultant, Caracas, Venezuela Honorary Research Fellow, University of Sussex, United Kingdom * The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the UNCTAD secretariat. GE.99- Executive Summary This paper provides an interpretation of development as a process of accumulation of technological and social capabilities in developing countries that is dependent upon their ability to take advantage of different and successive windows of opportunity. The nature of such windows would be determined by evolving technologies in the leading countries of the world system. The interplay of continuity and discontinuity, which characterizes technical change, would open successive spaces of possibility – some narrower, some wider, some only sufficient for initiating development processes, and others for allowing significant leaps forward. The shifts in the direction of technical change associated with each technological revolution would provide the best opportunities for catching up. At each stage, it would be vital to identify the changes in industrial power structures and the interests of firms in the advanced world in order to negotiate complementary strategies and establish positive-sum games. -
Technological Revolutions: Ethics and Policy in the Dark1
TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTIONS: ETHICS AND POLICY IN THE DARK1 (2006) Nick Bostrom www.nickbostrom.com [Published in Nanoscale: Issues and Perspectives for the Nano Century, eds. Nigel M. de S. Cameron and M. Ellen Mitchell (John Wiley, 2007): pp. 129‐152.] Abstract Technological revolutions are among the most important things that happen to humanity. Ethical assessment in the incipient stages of a potential technological revolution faces several difficulties, including the unpredictability of their long‐term impacts, the problematic role of human agency in bringing them about, and the fact that technological revolutions rewrite not only the material conditions of our existence but also reshape culture and even – perhaps – human nature. This essay explores some of these difficulties and the challenges they pose for a rational assessment of the ethical and policy issues associated with anticipated technological revolutions. 1. Introduction We might define a technological revolution as a dramatic change brought about relatively quickly by the introduction of some new technology. As this definition is rather vague, it may be useful to complement it with a few candidate paradigm cases. Some eleven thousand years ago, in the neighborhood of Mesopotamia, some of our ancestors took up agriculture, beginning the end of the hunter‐gatherer era. Improved food production led to population growth, causing average nutritional status and quality of life to decline below the hunter‐gatherer level. Eventually, greater population densities led to vastly accelerated cultural and technological development. Standing armies became a possibility, allowing the ancient Sumerians to embark on unprecedented territorial expansion. 1 I am grateful to Eric Drexler, Guy Kahane, Matthew Liao, and Rebecca Roache for helpful suggestions. -
Horizon Scan of Emerging Technologies and Trends for ADF CLASSIFICATION) Combat Service Support 2016 Document U Title U Abstract U
UNCLASSIFIED Analysis of Emerging Technologies and Trends for ADF Combat Service Support 2016 Ksenia Ivanova and Guy Edward Gallasch Land Division Defence Science and Technology Group DST-Group-GD-0946 ABSTRACT Strategic planning is supported by an understanding of emerging trends and technologies. This report provides such a horizon scan for Combat Service Support (CSS). Global trends and the results of science and technology literature scans across seven domains (power and energy, transportation, robotic and autonomous systems, materials and manufacturing, sensors, information and communication technology, and health technologies) are presented. Technologies of interest are further assessed in terms of their usability, potential costs and comparison with the existing options. A comparison to the results of the scan of the previous year is provided, and previous recommendations updated. Finally, an analysis of emerging trends and technologies draws out new recommendations, including for ongoing horizon scanning activities to be combined with development and assessment of detailed concepts of employment for some maturing technologies that offer significant benefits for ADF CSS. RELEASE LIMITATION Approved for public release UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED Produced by Land Division DST Group Edinburgh PO Box 1500 Edinburgh SA 5111 Telephone: 1300 333 362 Commonwealth of Australia 2016 December 2016 AR-016-767 APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED Analysis of Emerging Technologies and Trends for ADF Combat Service Support 2016 Executive Summary Strategic planning is supported by an understanding of emerging trends and technologies. This report follows on from previous horizon scanning studies for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) Combat Service Support (CSS) in line with Army Research and Development Requirements ARDR 16/0044 and 16/0054.