Living in a Technological Culture: Human Tools and Human Values / Edition 1

by Hans Oberdiek, Mary Tiles

Overview

Technology is no longer confined to the laboratory but has become an established part of our daily lives. Its sophistication offers us power beyond our human capacity which can either dazzle or threaten; it depends who is in control.
Living in a Technological Culture challenges traditionally held assumptions about the relationship between 'man-and-machine'. It argues that contemporary science does not shape technology but is shaped by it. Neither discipline exists in a moral vacuum, both are determined by politics rather than scientific inquiry.
By questioning our existing uses of technology, this book opens up wider debate on the shape of things to come and whether we should be trying to change them now. As an introduction to the philosophy of technology this will be valuable to students, but will be equally engaging for the general reader.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415071017
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	11/16/1995
Series:	Philosophical Issues in Science
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Mary Tiles is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Hawaii; she is the author of various books including Bachelard: Science and Objectivity (1984); An Introduction to Historical Epistemology with Jim Tiles (1993) and Mathematics and the Image of Reason (1991), which is published by Routledge. Hans Oberdiek is Professor of Philosophy at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

Introduction; Chapter 1 Conflicting Visions of Technology; Chapter 2 Facts, Values and Efficiency; Chapter 3 Science, Scientific Method and the Authority of Experts; Chapter 4 From Applied Science to Technoscience; Chapter 5 Technology, Culture and Politics; Chapter 6 Plant Breeding and the Politics of Hunger; Chapter 7 Who’s Responsible for this Mess?;

Editorial Reviews

"Living in a Technological Culture is intended to serve as an introduction to the philosophy of technology, and as such could well serve as a suitable course text.."
-" Science, Technology & Society, Summer 1996

From the Publisher