Andrew Feenberg
604-291-5169
Philosophy of Technology
This course will introduce philosophy of
technology through literature, major texts in the Continental tradition, and recent
approaches to technology studies in the social sciences. We will begin with Aldous Huxley’s famous
novel Brave New World which lays out
in narrative form the dystopian terms of 20th Century technology
critique. The domination of man by machine is the theme. A dystopian logic of
technology underlies the philosophical work of Heidegger and his student
Marcuse. Marcuse’s theory, however, opens up the possibility of a radical
transformation of technology. With Habermas we have a very different attempt to
come to terms with the existing technology by limiting its reach. Foucault
approaches similar issues of science and technology based domination from a
more empirical standpoint. He relates the acquisition of social knowledge to
the exercise of power through procedures and devices. His work will help us to
interpret the contributions of recent science and technology studies,
represented here by Pinch and Bijker and Latour. We will conclude with my own
book which draws on all these sources to present an approach I call “critical
constructivism.”
Format: This is a graduate seminar. There
will be lectures, student presentations, and discussion. Students are expected
to participate actively. Grading will be based on participation (50%) and a
research paper (50%).
Articles in Reader or on line:
Pinch and Bijker, "The Social
Construction of Facts and Artifacts"
Habermas, “Technology and Science as
‘Ideology’”
Latour, “Where are the Missing Masses?”
Foucault, “Truth and Power,” “The Subject
and Power”
Feenberg, “Democratic Rationalization”
Feenberg, “Marcuse and the Critique of
Technology”
Heidegger, “Traditional Language and
Technological Language”
Dreyfus, “Heidegger on Gaining a Free
Relation to Technology”
Books:
Heidegger, The Question Concerning Technology
Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man
Feenberg, Questioning Technology
Huxley, Brave
Latour, We Have Never Been Modern
Reading List by week:
1. Huxley, Brave
2. Heidegger, “Traditional Language and
Technological Language,” Dreyfus, “Heidegger on Gaining a Free Relation to
Technology,” Feenberg, Questioning
Technology, chap. 8
3. Heidegger, The Question Concerning Technology, “The Question Concerning
Technology”
4. Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man
5. Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man
6. Habermas, “Technology and Science as
‘Ideology,’” Feenberg, Questioning
Technology, chap. 7.
7. Foucault, “Truth and Power,” “The
Subject and Power”
8. Pinch and Bijker, "The Social
Construction of Facts and Artifacts,"
9. Latour, “Where are the Missing Masses?”,
Latour, We Have Never Been Modern
10. Feenberg, “Democratic
Rationalization,” Feenberg, Questioning
Technology, preface, chap. 1
11. Feenberg, Questioning Technology, chaps. 2-4
12. Feenberg, Questioning Technology, chaps. 5,6,9
Some extra time is allowed for additional
materials to be decided by the class.