Pitt Doing Philosophy of Technology

Essays in a Pragmatist Spirit
1. Auflage 2011
ISBN: 978-94-007-0820-4
Verlag: Springer Netherlands
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, Band 3, 222 Seiten

Reihe: Philosophy of Engineering and Technology

As science becomes more deeply embedded in a complex technological infrastructure, has this changed the relationship between the sciences and the various technologies that support them? As our technologies help shrink our world, can we restrict our ethical concerns or must we find a way to face the fact that we are now one world? What do new forms of architecture say about whom we are? Is the design process the new epistemological paradigm? The answers to all of these is "yes" according to Joseph C. Pitt (VirginaTech).

Doing Philosophy of Technology presents an updated and integrated overview of the most important thinking from this prominent philosopher of technology. Throughout his career Joseph C. Pitt has defended the view that to say anything meaningful about the value of a technology one must know something about that technology and how it functions in the world. This starting point leads naturally to a pragmatist philosophical stance, since it is the real world consequences of introducing a technology that must be the basis for any further normative judgements.

In the book we find an extended set of arguments that challenge the idea that there are eternal philosophical issues that transcend the impacts that technologies make on human beings and their world. Rather, it is claimed that as our technologies transform our world they transform us and the kinds of questions we find important to answer.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Pitt, Joseph C.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Introduction;7
1.1;Doing Philosophy of Technology;7
1.2;References;14
2;Contents;15
3;Part I Society, Ethics and Values;19
3.1;1 Human Beings as Technological Artifacts;20
3.1.1;1.1 John Dewey and the Aims of Education;21
3.1.2;1.2 The Design Process;22
3.1.3;1.3 Students as Self-Designers;23
3.1.4;1.4 Active Versus Passive, Redux;24
3.2;2 Technology and the Objectivity of Values;28
3.2.1;2.1 Introduction;28
3.2.2;2.2 Types of Judgments;30
3.2.3;2.3 Epistemic Values as Objective Values;31
3.2.4;2.4 Problems with Ethics;34
3.2.5;2.5 The Methodology of Technological Decision-Making;36
3.2.6;References;38
3.3;3 Anticipating the Unknown;39
3.3.1;3.1 Introduction;39
3.3.2;3.2 Pragmatism;40
3.3.3;3.3 Ethics;41
3.3.4;3.4 Philosophy and Pragmatism;43
3.3.5;3.5 The Law of Unintended Consequences (LUC);45
3.3.6;3.6 Way of Going and the Good Life;46
3.3.7;3.7 Common Sense Pragmatism;47
3.3.8;3.8 Common Sense Pragmatism as an Ethical Theory;47
3.3.9;3.9 Common Sense Pragmatism, Ethics, and Nanotechnology;49
3.3.10;3.10 A Different Approach;50
3.3.11;References;54
3.4;4 Dont Talk to Me;55
4;Part II Methodological Issues;59
4.1;5 Against the Perennial;60
4.1.1;5.1 Continents;60
4.1.2;5.2 Tectonics;61
4.1.3;5.3 Meaning;64
4.1.4;References;68
4.2;6 Philosophical Methodology, Technologies, and the Transformation of Knowledge;69
4.2.1;6.1 Introduction;69
4.2.2;6.2 Whats Wrong with the Philosophy of Technology?;70
4.2.3;6.3 The Aim of Philosophy;70
4.2.4;6.4 Changing Knowledge;72
4.2.5;6.5 Galileo and Mathematics;74
4.2.6;6.6 Galileo and the Telescope;77
4.2.7;6.7 Space and Beyond;78
4.2.8;6.8 Standard Conditions;82
4.2.9;6.9 Conclusions;82
4.2.10;References;85
4.3;7 Working the Natural/Artificial Distinction;86
4.3.1;References;96
4.4;8 Discovery, Telescopes, and Progress;97
4.4.1;8.1 Introduction;97
4.4.2;8.2 Discovery;99
4.4.3;8.3 Definitions;100
4.4.4;8.4 Galileo and the Telescope;102
4.4.5;8.5 Sicilian Realism and Technological Infrastructures;105
4.4.6;References;106
4.5;9 Explaining Change in Science;107
4.5.1;References;113
4.6;10 The Dilemma of Case Studies;115
4.6.1;References;122
4.7;11 Technological Explanation;123
4.7.1;11.1 Relevance;124
4.7.2;11.2 Technological Versus Scientific Explanation;124
4.7.2.1;11.2.1 The DN Theory;125
4.7.2.2;11.2.2 Other Theories of Explanation;126
4.7.3;11.3 Questions and Internal and External Audiences;128
4.7.4;11.4 Terminology;129
4.7.5;11.5 Systems;129
4.7.5.1;11.5.1 System and Design;132
4.7.5.2;11.5.2 System and Function;133
4.7.5.3;11.5.3 System and Structure;133
4.7.6;11.6 The Social;135
4.7.7;11.7 Explaining Failures;136
4.7.7.1;11.7.1 The Challenger Example;137
4.7.7.2;11.7.2 The 2000 US Presidential Election Example;138
4.7.7.3;11.7.3 The Ladbroke Grove Railroad Crash Example;138
4.7.8;11.8 Conclusions and Objections;139
4.7.9;11.9 Failure, Success, and Symmetry;139
4.7.10;References;141
5;Part III Design and Engineering;143
5.1;12 Successful Design in Engineering and Architecture;144
5.1.1;12.1 Engineering Design;144
5.1.2;12.2 Architectural Design;146
5.1.3;12.3 The Role of Creativity;149
5.1.4;12.4 Creativity and Freedom;152
5.1.5;12.5 Engineering and Creativity;152
5.1.6;12.6 Conclusion: Architectural Failures and Successes;154
5.1.7;References;157
5.2;13 Design Criteria in Architecture;158
5.2.1;13.1 Introduction;158
5.2.2;13.2 Architectural Design and Philosophy of Technology;159
5.2.3;13.3 James and Common Sense;160
5.2.4;13.4 A Common Sense Proposal;161
5.2.5;13.5 Common Sense Design;163
5.2.6;13.6 Conclusion -- Graves Reconsidered and the Mystery of the Guggenheim Finally Solved;164
5.2.7;References;166
5.3;14 Philosophy, Engineering, and the Sciences;167
5.3.1;References;173
5.4;15 What Engineers Know;174
5.4.1;15.1 A Pragmatic Theory of Knowledge;175
5.4.2;15.2 Scientific Knowledge;175
5.4.3;15.3 Engineering Knowledge;177
5.4.4;15.4 Philosophical Problems;181
5.4.5;References;183
5.5;16 Design Mistakes;184
5.5.1;References;195
6;Part IV Nano;196
6.1;17 The Epistemology of the Very Small;197
6.1.1;17.1 Introduction;197
6.1.2;17.2 Seeing the Unobservable;197
6.1.3;17.3 The Role of Metaphor;198
6.1.4;17.4 Learning to See Through Microscopes;199
6.1.5;17.5 Learning to See with Electron Microscopes;201
6.1.6;17.6 The Nano Scale and Nano Technology;203
6.1.7;References;205
6.2;18 When Is an Image Not an Image?;206
6.2.1;References;213
6.3;19 Small Talk: Nanotechnology and Metaphor;214
6.3.1;19.1 Introduction;214
6.3.2;19.2 An Example of an Early Use of Metaphor to Facilitate Theory Change;215
6.3.3;19.3 NANO -- Do Mixed Metaphors and a Lot of Mathematics Constitute a Proof?;217
6.3.4;References;221
7;Index;222