Philosophy of Technology ‘Un-Disciplined’
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Philosophy of Technology ‘Un-Disciplined’ William J. Davis III Dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In Science and Technology Studies James H. Collier, Chair Joseph C. Pitt Richard F. Hirsh Ellsworth R. Fuhrman 25 March 2016 Blacksburg, Virginia Keywords: Philosophy of Technology, Postphenomenology, Posthumanism, Science and Technology Studies Copyright 2016, William J. Davis III Philosophy of Technology ‘Un-Disciplined’ William J. Davis III Abstract Philosophy of technology (PoT) analyzes the nature of technology, its significance and consequences, and its mediation of human experiences of the world. Classical philosophers of technology describe mechanization as alienating: Technology causes humans to lose their connection with the natural world. Tehno-rationality replaces critical engagement and creativity. Failing to comprehend the essence/nature of Technology, and its consequences, portends disastrous social, political, and economic consequences. Such perspectives, however, neglect individual experiences of technologies. Filling that lacuna, contemporary philosophers of technology challenge the sweeping determinism of their intellectual forerunners and investigate how specific technologies mediate particular human experiences. Their descriptive prowess, however, lacks the normative engagement of classical PoT, and they emphasize micro effects of technologies to the detriment of macro implications. This dissertation describes an “un-disciplined” philosophy of technology (UPoT) that unites the macro and micro perspectives by providing narratives of human-technology symbiosis and co-development. Un-disciplined philosophers of technology present posthuman and transhuman perspectives that emphasize the symbiotic relationships between humans and technology. Thus, they deny disciplined philosophy’s first critical maneuver: define and demarcate. UPoT enables conversations and debate regarding the ontological and moral consequences of imagining humans and technologies as hybrid, co-dependent things. UPoT builds upon environmental and animal rights movements, and postphenomenology, to emphasize pluralist accounts that emphasize the dynamism of human-technology relations. UPoT argues we should imagine technologies as extensions/parts of living things: they do the shaping and are shaped in turn. I argue that such thinking reinforces the habit, already proposed by contemporary PoT, that emerging human-technology relations demand active interpretation and engagement because the relationships constantly change. Thus, we need to imagine a moral theory that best matches the hybrid/connected condition of the present century. Increasing automation in agriculture and surgery, for instance, exemplify technologies mediating human experiences of food and health, thus affecting how we understand and define these categories. Acknowledgements: The following work owes much to many. Through the many years I have worked on this project, I have relied on a collection of individuals, things, and places to ground me and also to inspire me. I thank: Professor Joseph Pitt for testing my many notions and theories about technology; Professor Richard Hirsh for making history of technology a subject I will never stop exploring; and Professor Skip Fuhrman for being candid and open to my ideas. My advisor, Professor Jim Collier, has been my greatest influence over these last years: his critical engagement with my ideas empowered me to create this work; his friendship and patience encouraged me to finish. My students, friends, and colleagues in Flagstaff, Arizona; Ciudad Ixtepec, Oaxaca; and el Distrito Federal de Mexico first inspired me to pursue this interdisciplinary path. You made me see the world, and my place in it, differently. Thank you for that perspective. To my past and present friends and colleagues in Blacksburg, Joel, Adam, Monique, Gail, and Erik, thank you for listening to me ramble and keeping me as sane as possible. Thank you Amy, Caroline, and Grandmother for teaching me strength and perseverance through your unconditional support. To Jamie, I appreciate all that you have brought to my life. We did it; now we press on. Although not here to celebrate this accomplishment, my mother is never far from my mind. I miss you still. Finally, I want to acknowledge the debt I owe my father. You have enabled me to become who I am. Thank you. This completed project is for you. And to the machines/artificial agents, I look forward to our continued collaboration. iii Table of Contents Abstract ...............................................................................................................................ii Acknowledgements: .......................................................................................................... iii Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................... 1 Our Technological Selves ............................................................................................. 1 Interlude: Self-Driving Systems............................................................................... 3 What ‘Un-Disciplined’ Philosophy of Technology Gains from Its Antecedents . 5 Future Farmer ........................................................................................................... 7 Why Un-discipline Philosophy of Technology ...................................................... 10 Philosophy of Technology Becomes Un-Disciplined ................................................ 13 A History of Philosophy of Technology .................................................................... 15 Toward More Inclusive Narratives: Re-imagining Humans and Nonhumans as Symbionts..................................................................................................................... 18 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 24 Chapter 2: What Is Gained from What Was Lost: Lessons of Classical Philosophy of Technology .................................................................................................................. 28 Anxious Anticipation .................................................................................................. 28 Absence and Mystery: Heideggerian Philosophy of Technology ....................... 30 Inescapable Pattern: Jacques Ellul’s Analysis of Technology ............................ 37 The Dominance of Efficiency and Rationality: Marcuse’s Philosophy of ......... 42 Technology ............................................................................................................... 42 Conclusion: Toward Multi-Dimensionality .............................................................. 49 Chapter 3: From Technology to Technologies: Alienation, Determinism and Mirco- Analyses ........................................................................................................................... 51 Introduction: From Classical to Contemporary Philosophy of Technology ......... 51 Perspectives in Philosophy of Technology (PoT): The Continuing Allure of Technological Determinism........................................................................................ 54 Two Varieties of Technological Determinism ...................................................... 54 Social Constructivism ............................................................................................. 56 Resolving Tensions? Technological Momentum .................................................. 57 Multiple Perspectives; Manifold Mediations: Don Ihde’s Postphenomenology ... 59 Looking ‘Forward’: Peter-Paul Verbeek’s Philosophy of Technological Mediation ....................................................................................................................................... 62 An Explicit Push for Connecting the Micro and Macro ......................................... 67 iv Conclusion: After Contemporary Philosophy of Technology ................................. 68 Chapter 4: Un-Disciplined Philosophy of Technology ................................................ 70 Philosophy of Technology Un-Disciplined ................................................................ 70 Outside Academic Authority ..................................................................................... 75 Visioneering the Singularity................................................................................... 75 The Technium: Kevin Kelly, Coevolution, and Human-Technology Symbiosis79 Jaron Lanier the Apostate?.................................................................................... 83 Conclusion: Un-disciplined Philosophy of Technology and the Path to Speculative Ethics and Anticipatory Governance of Emerging Technologies ........................... 87 Chapter 5: Un-disciplined Philosophy of Technology and Human-Technology Co- Dependence ...................................................................................................................... 90 Introduction: Amalgams ............................................................................................ 90 Un-disciplined Philosophy of Technology and Morality: Toward Posthumanism 95 Composite Relations ................................................................................................... 99