Thinking Otherwise is a unique and revealing look at the philosophical dimensions of information and communication technology (ICT). Among thinkers, the importance of what transpires within the virtual world is the effect these activities have on real human beings who exist outside of and beyond the computer-generated virtual environment. Obviously, the result of ICT interactions can lead to good or bad outcomes.

Gunkel, however, is not concerned about deciding which argument is more compelling, but how these arguments are organized, articulated, and configured. This approach entails challenging, criticizing and even changing the terms and conditions of the discourse itself. For example, the binary nature of computer logic tends to color debate about subsequent moral issues by portraying each side as the antithesis of the other. That is, the switch is either turned on or off.

Thinking Otherwise investigates the unique quandaries, com… More >>

Thinking Otherwise: Philosophy, Communication, Technology

The six American philosophers of technology whose work is profiled in this clear and concise introduction to the field–Albert Borgmann, Hubert Dreyfus, Andrew Feenberg, Donna Haraway, Don Ihde, and Langdon Winner–are shown to represent a new, empirical direction in the philosophical study of technology that has developed mainly in North America. In place of the grand philosophical schemes of the classical generation of European philosophers of technology (including Martin Heidgger, Jacques Ellul, and Hans Jonas), the contemporary American generation addresses concrete technological practices, and the co- evolution of technology and society in modern culture…. More >>

American Philosophy of Technology: The Empirical Turn

Teaching about technology, at all levels of education, can only be done properly when those who teach have a clear idea about what it is that they teach. In other words: they should be able to give a decent answer to the question: what is technology? In the philosophy of technology that question is explored. Therefore the philosophy of technology is a discipline with a high relevance for those who teach about technology. Literature in this field, though, is not always easy to access for non-philosophers. This book provides an introduction to the philosophy of technology for such people. It offers a survey of the current state-of-affairs in the philosophy of technology, and also discusses the relevance of that for teaching about technology. The book can be used in introductory courses on the philosophy of technology in teacher education programs, engineering education programs, and by individual educators that are interested in the intriguing phenomenon of technology that is so importan… More >>

Teaching about Technology: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Technology for Non-philosophers

The volume advances research in the philosophy of technology by introducing contributors who have an acute sense of how to get beyond or reframe the epistemic, ontological and normative limitations that currently limit the fields of philosophy of technology and science and technology studies.
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New Waves in Philosophy of Technology

What does it mean to think about technology philosophically? Why try? These are the issues that Carl Mitcham addresses in this work, a comprehensive, critical introduction to the philosophy of technology and a discussion of its sources and uses. Tracing the changing meaning of “technology” from ancient times to our own, Mitcham identifies the most important traditions of critical analysis of technology: the engineering approach, which assumes the centrality of technology in human life; and the humanities approach, which is concerned with its moral and cultural boundaries. Mitcham bridges these two traditions through an analysis of discussions of engineering design, of the distinction between tools and machines, and of engineering science itself. He looks at technology as it is experienced in everyday life–as material objects (from kitchenware to computers), as knowledge ( including recipes, rules, theories, and intuitive “know-how”), as activity (design, construction, and use)… More >>

Thinking through Technology: The Path between Engineering and Philosophy

This anthology brings together, for the first time, a collection of both seminal historical and contemporary essays on the nature of technology and its relation to humanity.

Contains extensive selections from the great classical philosophers on technology.
Integrates the latest developments in the philosophy of science with philosophy of technology and clarifies the relation between the two.
Discusses technology in relation to feminism, deep ecology, multiculturalism, social constructivism, and hermeneutics…. More >>

Philosophy of Technology: The Technological Condition – An Anthology