Chapter 18 Albert Borgmann and a Philosophy of Technology? I Begin
Technè 10:2 Winter 2006 Special Issue: Durbin, In Search of Discourse Synthesis/168 Chapter 18 Albert Borgmann and a Philosophy of Technology? I begin this chapter with Higgs, Light, and Strong and their argument in Technology and the Good Life? (2000) in favor of the need for a new discipline: Broadening the scope of Philosophy of Technology “The set of questions a philosophy of technology should address in order to fulfill its promise are often at the intersection of it and other fields. In our opinion, philosophy of technology at its best should appeal to a very wide audience partly because it illuminates our shared, ordinary everyday life, such as with things and devices, and partly because the issues it probes cut across the full range of disciplines. Many of these issues are already vital matters of concern for these disciplines, such as ethics, social and political philosophy, aesthetics, art history, architecture, music, anthropology, religion, history, history of science and technology, cultural studies, sociology, political science, economics, linguistics, literary criticism, visual culture, and the hard sciences. For example, one of the interdisciplinary successes that philosophy of technology has had is with environmental ethics. Issues that join both fields are addressed in journals regularly, and numerous books have appeared. However, this kind of success should be occurring with other fields as well. What does philosophy of technology have to offer other disciplines? In the view of some of our contributors, traditional philosophical approaches may not be capable of questioning and challenging technology in a sufficiently radical manner. Nevertheless, we can show the kinds of questions a robust philosophy of technology can raise and address.
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