DOCSLIB.ORG

A Companion to the Philosophy of Technology

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A Companion to the Philosophy of Technology 9781405146012_1_pre.qxd 2/4/09 16:31 Page iii A Companion to the Philosophy of Technology Edited by Jan Kyrre Berg Olsen, Stig Andur Pedersen and Vincent F. Hendricks A John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Publication 9781405146012_1_pre.qxd 2/4/09 16:31 Page iv This edition first published 2009 © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd Blackwell Publishing was acquired by John Wiley & Sons in February 2007. Blackwell’s publishing program has been merged with Wiley’s global Scientific, Technical, and Medical business to form Wiley-Blackwell. Registered Office John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK Editorial Offices 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services, and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book, please see our website at www.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell. The right of Jan Kyrre Berg Olsen, Stig Andur Pedersen, and Vincent F. Hendricks to be identified as the author of the editorial material in this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold on the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A companion to the philosophy of technology / edited by Jan Kyrre Berg Olsen, Stig Andur Pedersen, and Vincent F. Hendricks. p. cm. — (Blackwell companions to philosophy) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4051-4601-2 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Technology–Philosophy. I. Olsen, Jan Kyrre Berg. II. Pedersen, Stig Andur, 1943– III. Hendricks, Vincent F. IV. Title. V. Series. T14.C5745 2009 601—dc22 2008044192 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Set in 10/12.5pt Photina by Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong Printed in Singapore by Fabulous Printers Pte Ltd 1 2009 9781405146012_1_pre.qxd 2/4/09 16:32 Page v Contents Notes on Contributors xi Introduction 1 Part I History of Technology 5 1 History of Technology 7 Thomas J. Misa 2 Definitions of Technology 18 Richard Li-Hua 3 Western Technology 23 Keld Nielsen 4 Chinese Technology 28 Francesca Bray 5 Islamic Technology 32 Thomas F. Glick 6 Japanese Technology 37 David Wittner 7 Technology and War 43 Bart Hacker Part II Technology and Science 49 8 Technology and Science 51 Don Ihde 9 Science and Technology: Positivism and Critique 61 Hans Radder 10 Engineering Science 66 Louis L. Bucciarelli v 9781405146012_1_pre.qxd 2/4/09 16:32 Page vi contents 11 Technological Knowledge 70 Anthonie W. M. Meijers and Marc J. de Vries 12 The Interplay between Science and Technology 75 Bart Gremmen 13 Instruments in Science and Technology 78 Mieke Boon 14 Social Construction of Science 84 Harry Collins 15 Social Construction of Technology 88 Wiebe E. Bijker 16 Theory Change and Instrumentation 95 Joseph C. Pitt 17 Biology and Technology 99 Keekok Lee 18 Nuclear Technologies 104 William J. Nuttall 19 Engineering Design 112 Peter Kroes 20 Cybernetics 118 Andrew Pickering 21 Chemistry and Technology 123 Helge S. Kragh Part III Technology and Philosophy 129 22 Introduction: Philosophy and Technology 131 Val Dusek 23 Semiotics of Technology 141 Robert E. Innis 24 Critical Theory of Technology 146 Andrew Feenberg 25 Cyborgs 154 Evan Selinger 26 Simulation 157 Evan Selinger 27 Technology as “Applied Science” 160 Robert C. Scharff 28 Technological Artifacts 165 Peter-Paul Verbeek and Pieter E. Vermaas vi 9781405146012_1_pre.qxd 2/4/09 16:32 Page vii contents 29 Technical Practice 172 Bart Gremmen 30 Technological Pragmatism 175 Larry Hickman 31 Hermeneutics and Technologies 180 Don Ihde 32 Analytic Philosophy of Technology 184 Maarten Franssen 33 Technological Rationality 189 Lorenzo C. Simpson 34 Phenomenology and Technology 195 Iain Thomson 35 Expertise 202 Evan Selinger 36 Imaging Technologies 205 Don Ihde 37 The Critique of the Precautionary Principle and the Possibility for an “Enlightened Doomsaying” 210 Jean-Pierre Dupuy 38 Technology and Metaphysics 214 Jean-Pierre Dupuy 39 Large Technical Systems 218 Erik van der Vleuten 40 Sociotechnical Systems 223 Maarten Franssen and Peter Kroes 41 Information Technology 227 Luciano Floridi Part IV Technology and Environment 233 42 Technology and Environment 235 Mary Tiles 43 The Precautionary Principle 248 Andy Stirling 44 Boundary-work, Pluralism and the Environment 263 Jozef Keulartz 45 Global Warming 270 Sir John Houghton vii 9781405146012_1_pre.qxd 2/4/09 16:32 Page viii contents 46 The Reinvention of CO2 as Refrigerant for Both Heating and Cooling 276 Jan Hurlen 47 Environmental Science and Technology 280 Mary Tiles 48 Agriculture and Technology 285 John R. Porter and Jesper Rasmussen 49 The Built Environment 289 Christian Illies Part V Technology and Politics 295 50 Technology and Politics 297 Evan Selinger 51 The Idea of Progress 303 Daniel Sarewitz 52 Technology and Power 308 Daniel Sarewitz 53 Technology and Culture 311 Lucien Scubla 54 Technology Management 316 Richard Li-Hua 55 Technology Strategy 321 Richard Li-Hua 56 Technology and Globalization 325 David M. Kaplan 57 Technology Transfer 329 Evan Selinger 58 Technology and Capitalism 333 David M. Kaplan 59 The Politics of Gender and Technology 338 Elisabeth K. Kelan 60 European Politics, Economy and Technology 342 Erik Jones 61 Asian Politics, Economy and Technology 347 Keekok Lee 62 US Politics, Economy and Technology 353 David M. Hart 63 Energy, Technology and Geopolitics 359 John R. Fanchi viii 9781405146012_1_pre.qxd 2/4/09 16:32 Page ix contents Part VI Technology and Ethics 365 64 Technology and Ethics: Overview 367 Carl Mitcham and Katinka Waelbers 65 Agriculture Ethics 384 David M. Kaplan 66 Architecture Ethics 387 Warwick A. Fox 67 Biomedical Engineering Ethics 392 Philip Brey 68 Bioethics 397 Paul B. Thomson 69 Biotechnology: Plants and Animals 402 Bart Gremmen 70 Computer Ethics 406 Philip Brey 71 Consumerism 412 Edward J. Woodhouse 72 Development Ethics 416 Thomas Kesselring 73 Energy Ethics 422 Kirsten Halsnæs 74 Engineering Ethics 426 Christelle Didier 75 Environmental Ethics 433 Thomas Søbirk Petersen 76 Food Ethics 439 David M. Kaplan 77 Future Generations 442 Jesper Ryberg 78 Genethics 445 Nils Holtug 79 Technology and the Law 449 Richard Susskind 80 Media Ethics 452 Deni Elliott 81 Medical Ethics 455 Søren Holm ix 9781405146012_1_pre.qxd 2/4/09 16:32 Page x contents 82 Nanoethics 459 John Weckert 83 Nuclear Ethics 462 Koos van der Bruggen 84 Religion and Technology 466 Carl Mitcham 85 Technology and Personal Moral Responsibility 474 Jesper Ryberg 86 Value-sensitive Design 477 Jeroen van der Hoven and Noemi Manders-Huits Part VII Technology and the Future 481 87 Technology, Prosperity and Risk 483 Sven Ove Hansson 88 World Risk Society 495 Ulrich Beck 89 Risk Analysis 500 Sven Ove Hansson 90 Prosperity and the Future of Technology 502 William Sims Bainbridge 91 Converging Technologies 508 William Sims Bainbridge 92 Nanotechnology 511 Alfred Nordmann 93 Energy Forecast Technologies 517 John R. Fanchi 94 Biotechnology 523 Jennifer Kuzma 95 Transportation 532 Jonathan L. Gifford 96 Global Challenges 538 Jennifer Kuzma 97 Chemicals 546 Bruce E. Johansen 98 The Future of Humanity 551 Nick Bostrom Index 558 x 9781405146012_4_001.qxd 2/4/09 16:26 Page 7 1 History of Technology THOMAS J. MISA A generation ago, before the much-noted “empirical turn” in philosophy, it was unlikely that an assessment of the philosophy of technology would have prominently featured the history of technology. Put simply, there were relatively few common concerns, since historians of technology rarely engaged in the sort of questions that animated philosophers of technology. Consulting the published volumes of Research in Philosophy and Technology and Technology and Culture three decades ago suggests two divergent scholarly communities, separated by research methods and background assumptions, and pursuing largely independent investigations. At the time, historians of technology were insisting on technology being an ontologically and epistemologic- ally separate category from science, and vigorously insisting that technology is not merely applied science, while philosophers were ready and more comfortable with sweeping normative assessments about the essential characteristics of technology and its impact on society. In the debates on technological determinism, philosophers of technology and historians of technology were nearly as far apart as possible: while historians of technology adamantly refuted any and all claims of technological determinism, philo- sophers of technology were as a discipline the most enthusiastic in exploring and embracing the notion that technology determines social and cultural change and that technology develops more or less autonomously of social and cultural influences (Winner 1977; Misa 2004b). In this climate, there was not so very much that the two specialist fields held in common.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 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.
    [Show full text]
  • Design Without Causality: Heidegger's Impossible
    DESIGN WITHOUT CAUSALITY: HEIDEGGER’S IMPOSSIBLE CHALLENGE FOR ECOLOGICALLY SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE GLEN HILL Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning University of Sydney NSW 2006, Australia [email protected] Abstract Deploying Martin Heidegger’s thinking on technology, this paper attempts to show an internal contradiction inherent in our technologically oriented approach to sustainable design. Heidegger’s thinking on technology, which has had an influence both on the ecological movement and on architecture, situates the problematic shift toward modern technology at the beginning of the enlightenment with the emergence of new understandings of both the subject and the object. Each of these revolutionary understandings contribute to the reframing of nature as knowable and (therefore) controllable. Nature thus moves from a position of mystery and wonder to that of a disenchanted, predictable system, allowing the appearance of a technological orientation in which nature is framed in advance as something simply manipulable for our benefit. Unlike the Classical Realist account of nature that emerged from the enlightenment separation of subject and object, Heidegger’s formulation of the real, of nature, does not allow the same confidence in causality and control. However, design, as the engine of technological innovation in modernity, appears inseparable from the modern technological understanding of causality and control and the framing of nature as a mere resource. This problematises the possibility that design, as it is currently conceived, can contribute to achieving an ecological sustainable relation to nature. Keywords: technology, Heidegger, ecological, sustainable, design. 1 Introduction Any discussion of technology would be incomplete without consideration of the thinking of Martin Heidegger.
    [Show full text]
  • Classical Ethics in A/IS
    The IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems Classical Ethics in A/IS We applied classical ethics methodologies to considerations of algorithmic design in autonomous and intelligent systems (A/IS) where machine learning may or may not reflect ethical outcomes that mimic human decision-making. To meet this goal, we drew from classical ethics theories and the disciplines of machine ethics, information ethics, and technology ethics. As direct control over tools becomes further removed, creators of autonomous systems must ask themselves how cultural and ethical presumptions bias artificially intelligent creations. Such introspection is more necessary than ever because the precise and deliberate design of algorithms in self-sustained digital systems will result in responses based on such design. By drawing from over two thousand years’ worth of classical ethics traditions, we explore established ethics systems, including both philosophical traditions (utilitarianism, virtue ethics, and deontological ethics) and religious and culture-based ethical systems (Buddhism, Confucianism, African Ubuntu traditions, and Japanese Shinto) and their stance on human morality in the digital age.1 In doing so, we critique assumptions around concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, and we attempt to carry these inquiries into artificial systems’ decision-making processes. Through reviewing the philosophical foundations that define autonomy and ontology, we address the potential for autonomous capacity of artificially intelligent systems, posing questions of morality in amoral systems and asking whether decisions made by amoral systems can have moral consequences. Ultimately, we address notions of responsibility and accountability for the decisions made by autonomous systems and other artificially intelligent technologies.
    [Show full text]
  • Why We Need a Philosophy of Engineering: a Work in Progress
    Why we need a philosophy of engineering: a work in progress STEVEN L. GOLDMAN Departments of Philosophy and History, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18015, USA Engineering problem solving employs a contingency based form of reasoning that stands in sharp contrast to the necessity based model of rationality that has dominated Western philosophy since Plato and that underlies modern science. The concept ‘necessity’ is cognate with the concepts ‘certainty’, ‘universality’, ‘abstractness’ and ‘theory’. Engineering by contrast is characterised by wilfulness, particularity, probability, concreteness and prac- tice. The identification of rationality with necessity has impoverished our ability to apply reason effectively to action. This article locates the contingency based reasoning of engineer- ing in a philosophical tradition extending from pre-Socratic philosophers to American pragmatism, and suggests how a contingency based philosophy of engineering might enable more effective technological action. For reasons that have been at the heart of Western culture from its beginnings in ancient Greece, engineering has been treated dismissively by intellectuals and in particular by philosophers.1 The reasons reflect deeply rooted prejudices that have been sustained for well over two thousand years. Of special relevance to the persistent underestimation of engineering is the low value historically placed by intellectuals on the contingent, the probable, the particular, the contextual and the temporal. Conversely, philosophers especially have placed a high value on the necessary, the certain, the universal, the context independent and the timeless. This hierarchisation subordinates practice, values, emotion and will to theory, value neutral principles and deductive logic in ways that leave us ill equipped to deal rationally with life.
    [Show full text]
  • Toward a Philosophy of Technology Author(S): Hans Jonas Source: the Hastings Center Report, Vol
    Toward a Philosophy of Technology Author(s): Hans Jonas Source: The Hastings Center Report, Vol. 9, No. 1 (Feb., 1979), pp. 34-43 Published by: The Hastings Center Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3561700 . Accessed: 26/10/2011 18:53 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. The Hastings Center is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Hastings Center Report. http://www.jstor.org KNOWLEDGE,POWER & THE BIOLOGICALREVOLUTION Toward a Philosophy of Technology by HANS JONAS the world furnishedwith them looks. A third, overarching themeis the moralside of technologyas a burdenon human A re there philosophicalaspects to technology?Of responsibility,especially its long-termeffects on the global course there are, as there are to all things of importancein conditionof man and environment.This-my own mainpre- humanendeavor and destiny.Modern technology touches on occupation over the past years-will only be touched upon. almost everythingvital to man's existence-material, men- tal, and spiritual.Indeed, what of man is not involved?The I. The FormalDynamics of Technology way he lives his life and looks at objects,his intercoursewith the worldand with his peers,his powersand modes of action, First some observationsabout technology'sform as an kinds of goals, states and changesof society, objectivesand abstractwhole of movement.We are concernedwith char- forms of politics (includingwarfare no less than welfare), acteristicsof moderntechnology and thereforeask firstwhat the sense and qualityof life, even man'sfate and that of his distinguishesit formallyfrom all previoustechnology.
    [Show full text]
  • Heidegger, Marcuse and the Philosophy of Technology
    [Text of a lecture based on the Preface to Heidegger and Marcuse: The Catastrophe and Redemption of History (Routledge, 2005)] Heidegger, Marcuse and the Philosophy of Technology Andrew Feenberg Heidegger is often considered to be the most important continental philosopher of the 20th Century. He is certainly one of the most controversial. Despite his politics, Heidegger had four Jewish students who went on to brilliant careers as social philosophers, Hannah Arendt, Hans Jonas, Karl Löwith, and Herbert Marcuse. I had the good fortune to study with Marcuse and have been influenced by his thought, although I am by no means a "Marcusean." Several years ago I decided to investigate the links between Heidegger and Marcuse more closely and discovered to my surprise that they share a common interpretation of Aristotle, an interpretation that seems to originate in Heidegger's early courses which Marcuse attended. I have followed up this connection in a book entitled Heidegger and Marcuse: The Catastrophe and Redemption of History. This lecture will review some of the main themes of this book. *** I arrived in La Jolla, California in the fall of 1965 as a graduate student in philosophy. One of my reasons for coming was what I had heard of Herbert Marcuse. He was not yet famous but he was well known and what was known about him intrigued me. I was interested in phenomenology, but a philosopher wild enough to synthesize Marx and Freud was wild enough for a young graduate student looking for an alternative to the positivism then dominating American philosophy. At the first opportunity I asked Professor Marcuse to help me study Martin Heidegger’s Being and Time.
    [Show full text]
  • Information and Causality Phyllis Illari and Federica Russo 1 Philosophy
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by UCL Discovery Information and causality Phyllis Illari and Federica Russo 1 Philosophy of causality meets information Philosophical theorizing has been concerned at least since ancient Greek thinkers with the problem of connecting events as causes and effects. For Aristotle causes are first principles that explain the ‘why of things’, but they are also ‘efficient’ in that they are the ‘source of change or rest’. In this sense Aristotelian efficient causation is very close to the attempts made by contemporary philosophy of science to give an account of how something gives rise to something else. Recent debates in philosophy of causality have highlighted that it is one thing to establish that C causes E and another thing to establish how C causes E. This derives from the work of Hall (2004), who distinguishes two concepts of causation – dependence (that) and production (how) – and is followed up by philosophers interested in analyzing the different evidential components (dependence or association (that) and production or mechanisms (how)) which enter into causal assessment (Russo and Williamson, 2007, Illari, 2011a, Clarke et al., 2014). Recent philosophical literature exploring how C causes E has focused on examining the ways in which mechanisms explain such connections. Here, we will focus on understanding production, which is broader in scope, as will become clear. Concerning how C and E are connected, so far we have two dominant accounts. One is in terms of physical processes, characterized using concepts from physics such as conserved quantities.
    [Show full text]
  • Just a Tool? John Dewey's Pragmatic Instrumentalism and Educational
    Just a Tool? John Dewey’s Pragmatic Instrumentalism and Educational Technology By © 2018 Mike Bannen Submitted to the graduate degree program in Social & Cultural Studies in Education and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Chair: Suzanne Rice, Ph.D. John L. Rury, Ph.D. Argun Staatcioglu, Ph.D. Heidi Hallman, Ph.D. Joe E. O’Brien, Ed.D. Date Defended: 31 January 2018 The dissertation committee for Mike Bannen certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Just a Tool? John Dewey’s Pragmatic Instrumentalism and Educational Technology Chairperson: Suzanne Rice, Ph.D. Date Approved: 31 January 2018 ii Abstract This dissertation examines how John Dewey’s philosophy of knowledge might be used to consider the aims of contemporary educational technologies. While significant scholarship exists examining the historical and philosophical importance of Dewey’s contributions to American progressive education, much less scholarship has focused on examining the relationship between Dewey’s theory of knowledge and his thoughts regarding the purposes and aims of educational technologies. I argue that because many of Dewey’s ideas were heavily influenced by the material and social changes of the industrial revolution, his theories about knowledge, technology, and education offer a unique perspective when considering the educational significance of digital technologies. This dissertation is guided by two central questions: (1) What is the relationship between Dewey’s philosophy of knowledge, his philosophy of technology, and his philosophy of education? (2) How might Dewey’s ideas about the relationship between knowledge, technology, and education help educators, students, and policy makers think about the aims and uses of digital technologies in contemporary educational contexts? I begin by examining Dewey’s pragmatically instrumental account of knowledge.
    [Show full text]
  • DES 03452- PHILOSOPHY of TECHNOLOGY Harvard University Graduate School of Design Course Syllabus – Spring 2014
    DES 03452- PHILOSOPHY OF TECHNOLOGY Harvard University Graduate School of Design Course Syllabus – Spring 2014 Robert Silman Office hours by appointment: 111 Devonshire Street Mon. - Fri., 9:00 - 5:00 Boston, MA 02109 Tel. (617) 695-6700, ext. 116 E-mail: [email protected] "Technology is a branch of moral philosophy, not of science." (Paul Goodman, Week No. 6) (T) Text: Scharff, Robert C. and Dusek, Val. Philosophy of Technology – The Technological Condition. Blackwell Publishing, Malden, MA. 2003 (iSites) Reading to be found on iSites under DES 03452 (www) Internet on-line source material Date Week Topic 1 Introduction. Our responsibilities as designers of the built environment. Defining technology. Reading: (iSites) Jonas, Hans. The Imperative of Responsibility. pp. 1-24, 38-43, 201- 204. (iSites) Kline, Stephen J . “What is Technology?” pp. 210-212. (iSites) Feibelman, James K. "Pure Science, Applied Science and Technology: An Attempt at Definitions." pp. 33-41. (In Mitcham and Mackey, Philosophy and Technology.) Related typologies: Affordable Housing, Sustainable Design 2 Historical Perspective Reading: (T) Mitcham, Carl. “Three Ways of Being-With Technology.” pp. 490-506. (T) Bacon, Francis. “On the Idols, the Scientific Study of Nature, and the Reformation of Education.” pp. 25-37. (T) Comte, Auguste. “The Nature and Importance of the Positive Philosophy. pp. 45-59. (T) **Optional Reading**: Aristotle. “On ‘Techné’ and ‘Epistémé’.” pp. 19-24. Related typologies: Historic Preservation 3 Classical vs. Heidegger’s View of Technology Reading: Aristotle. Physics II. Lines 194b16-195b30, 198a14-198b9. (Chaps. 3 and 7). (T) Heidegger, Martin. "The Question Concerning Technology." pp. 252- 264. (iSites) Dreyfus, Hubert.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 9 an Early Attempt to Turn Philosophy and Technology Into
    Technè 10:2 Winter 2006 Special Issue: Durbin, In Search of Discourse Synthesis/87 Chapter 9 An Early Attempt to Turn Philosophy and Technology into Philosophy of Technology: Joseph Pitt According to his own web account, Joseph Pitt has research interests in history and philosophy of science and technology, with an emphasis on the impact of technologies on scientific change. He was founding editor of the journal, Perspectives on Science: Philosophical, Historical, Social, published by MIT Press. His historical interests include Galileo, Hume, and American pragmatism. He is author of several books and numerous articles in the history and philosophy of science and technology. Recent books, for example, include: The Production and Diffusion of Public Choice: Reflections on the VPI Center, co-edited with Dhavad Saleh-Isfahani and Douglas Eckel (2003), and Thinking about Technology (2000). I will focus on the latter, as well as a set of critiques of that book that I edited for the SPT electronic journal, Techné. After four presidents of SPT—Mitcham, Michalos, Shrader-Frechette, and Wartofsky—to which I have added Bunge, Margolis, Agassi, and Byrne; and after four international meetings: Bad Homburg in (then West) Germany, New York City, Twente in the Netherlands, and Blacksburg, Virginia (Pitt was host there), and proceedings volumes for each of these—after all of that, Pitt was still not satisfied. In what we have seen so far, the early years had covered most of anybody's philosophical spectrum: metaphysics (Mitcham), the social responsibilities of technically trained experts (Michalos), ethical and philosophy of science analyses of particular expert projects (Shrader-Frechette), Marxism (Wartofsky), a systems/exact philosophy analysis of technology (Bunge), a philosophy of technology closely linked to major figures in analytical philosophy (Margolis), social-movement activism (Agassi), and a workers’ perspective for technological society (Byrne).
    [Show full text]
  • John Dewey As a Philosopher of Technology
    4 John Dewey as a Philosopher of Technology Larry Hickman The reigning historian of the philosophy of technology, Carl Mitcham, has written that the first publication in the field was Friedrich Dessauer’s Philosophie der Technik, published in 1927.1 That year also marked the appearance of Martin Heidegger’s Sein und Zeit (Being and Time), which is widely accepted as the first major contribution to the field. Works on the subject by Ernst Ju¨nger in 1932 and by Jose´ Ortega y Gasset in 1939 quickly followed. Until recently, however, no one seemed to notice that American philosophy, or more specifi- cally classical American pragmatism, had also made a solid contribution to the field.2 I have argued that John Dewey’s treatments of education, aesthetics, social and political philosophy, logic, and the philosophy of nature should also be read as contributions to a cultural critique of technology.3 Some twenty years prior to the publication of the works of Dessauer and Heidegger, Dewey was already writing about a whole range of topics that today are considered central concerns within the philosophy of technology. Later, Dewey’s books Essays in Experimental Logic (1916), Experience and Nature (1925), and Art as Experience (1934) all contained incisive critiques of technological culture. To put this matter in perspective, it may help to recall that Dewey was born in 1859, the year of America’s first successful oil well in Titusville, Pennsylvania, and the publication of Darwin’s Origin of Species. He died in 1952, the year of the first hydrogen bomb test and the first mass marketing of the birth control pill.
    [Show full text]
  • Philosophy of Technology: an Introduction
    Philosophy of Technology: An Introduction Val Dusek Blackwell Publishing Philosophy of Technology To my daughter Lela Dusek PHILOSOPHY TECHNOLOGYOF AN INTRODUCTION VAL DUSEK © 2006 by Val Dusek BLACKWELL PUBLISHING 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia The right of Val Dusek to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. First published 2006 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd 1 2006 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dusek, Val, 1941– Philosophy of technology : an introduction / Val Dusek. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-1162-1 (hc. : alk. paper) ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-1163-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 1-4051-1162-3 (hc. : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 1-4051-1163-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Technology—Philosophy. I. Title. T14 D86 2006 601—dc22 2005025431 A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. Set in 10.5/13pt Dante by Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong Printed and bound in India by Replika Press Pvt. Ltd. The publisher’s policy is to use permanent paper from mills that operate a sustainable forestry policy, and which has been manufactured from pulp processed using acid-free and elementary chlorine-free practices.
    [Show full text]