Introduction to Philosophy of Technology
Mark Coeckelbergh
Table of Contents
PART 1. INTRODUCTION: PHILOSOPHY OF TECHNOLOGY?
1. Introduction
Case/Technology: Nuclear Technology and the Atomic Bomb
1.1. Thinking about Technology?
1.2. Approach, Structure of the Book, and Overview of Chapters
2. History and Landscape
Case: Technology, Knowledge, and Memory
2.1. Beginnings: Two Ancient Myths
In Focus: Bernard Stiegler
2.2. A Brief History of the Discipline
Technology: The Time Machine
2.3. Historical Context, Landscape of the Discipline, and Critical Questions
Technology: The Industrial Revolution
In Focus: Carl Mitcham
PART 2. THINKING ABOUT TECHNOLOGY BY STARTING FROM THEORY
3. Phenomenology and Hermeneutics: Heidegger, McLuhan, and Contemporary Work
Case/Technology: Robotics and Artificial Intelligence and the Question about Mastery
3.1. Heidegger's Essay Concerning Technology: Beyond an Instrumental Understanding of Technology
In Focus: Martin Heidegger
3.2. McLuhan's Understanding of Media
In Focus: Marshall McLuhan
In Focus: Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Case/Technology: The Internet
3.3. Some Contemporary Work in Phenomenology and Hermeneutics of Technology
Case/Technology: Artificial Intelligence
In Focus: Hubert Dreyfus
4. Postphenomenology, Material Hermeneutics, and Mediation Theory
Case/Technology: Driving a Car
4.1. Introduction: The Empirical Turn
4.2. Ihde's Postphenomenology and Material Hermeneutics
In Focus: Don Ihde
Case/Technology: Robot as Quasi-Other
4.3. Contemporary Postphenomenology and Mediation Theory
In Focus: Peter-Paul Verbeek
Technology/Case: Medical Sonography/Ultrasound
4.4. Critical Discussion
5. Critical Theory and Feminism
Case: Digital Technologies in a Corporate and Capitalist Context
5.1. Marx: Political Economy and Technology
In Focus: Karl Marx
5.2. Marx 2.0.: Social media and Exploitation
Case/Technology: Social Media and Web 2.0
5.3. Critical Theory about Technology Beyond Marx: From Marcuse and Foucault to Feenberg and Winner
In Focus: Michel Foucault
Case: Surveillance: The Panopticon and Airport Security
Case: Biased Algorithms and Algorithms Not in the Interest of Consumers: Job Selection, Criminal Justice, and Online Stores
In Focus: Andrew Feenberg
In Focus: Langdon Winner
5.4. Feminist Thinking about Technology
Case: Design of Household Robots
In Focus: Donna Haraway
5.5. Critical Discussion
6. Pragmatism, Analytic Approaches, and Transcultural Philosophy
Case/Technology: Neonatal Care and Technology
6.1. Pragmatism
In Focus: John Dewey
6.2. Analytic Philosophy of Technology
Technology: Money and Contemporary Financial Technologies (Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain)
In Focus: John Searle's Social Ontology
6.3. Intercultural and Transcultural Philosophy of Technology?
In Focus: Gilbert Simondon
Case/Technology: Digital Communication Technologies and The Good Life
PART 3 . THINKING ABOUT TECHNOLOGY BY STARTING FROM TECHNOLOGY
7. From Information Technologies to Philosophy and Ethics of Information
Technology: Digital and Virtual Worlds, The Matrix, and Beyond
7.1. Introduction
In Focus: Norbert Wiener
7.2. All about Information: Floridi's Philosophy and Ethics of Information
Case/Technology: Fake News and the Internet
7.3. Critical Discussion
7.4. Conclusions for Philosophy of Technology
8. From Robotics and AI to Thinking about Moral Status and Human Relationships
Case: Self-Driving Cars
8.1. Introduction
8.2. Moral Machines? The Discussion about Moral Agency
Case: Biased Algorithms
8.3. The Discussion about Moral Patiency
8.4. Changing the Question: Toward More Relational Thinking
In Focus: Emmanuel Levinas
8.5. The Debate about Sex Robots and Human Relationships: Feminist (or Egalitarian) Questions
Technology: Sex Robots
8.6. Humans, Non-Humans, and the More-Than-Human
9. From Genetic Engineering and Cyborgs to Transhumanism and Posthumanism
Case/Technology: Gene Editing
9.1. Introduction
9.2. Transhumanism and Human Enhancement
9.3. Posthumanism and Cyborgs
In Focus: Haraway
In Focus: Stelarc
In Focus: Bruno Latour
10. From Climate Change and Geoengineering to Questioning "Nature" and Thinking in and about the "Anthropocene"
Case/Technology: (Solar) Radiation Management as a Method of Geoengineering
10.1. Introduction: Earth, We Have a Problem
10.2. The Problem With "Nature": Modern Versus Non-Modern Approaches
Case/Technology: Central Heating Versus Wood-Burning Stove
10.3. The Anthropocene: Some Philosophical Responses
PART 4. THINKING ABOUT TECHNOLOGY BY GOING BEYOND PHILOSOPHY OF TECHNOLOGY (PHILOSOPHY OF TECHNOLOGY +)
11. Philosophy of Technology and Other Philosophy: (Re)Connecting with Other Philosophical Subdisciplines
Case/Technology: Social Media (2) and Its Effects on our Lives
11.1. Introduction
11.2. Ethics and Moral Philosophy: Thinking about Virtue and Thinking about Technology
11.3. Philosophical Anthropology: Thinking about the Human and Thinking about Technology
Technology: Cochlear Implants
11.4. Philosophy of Language: Thinking about Language and Thinking about Technology
In Focus: John Searle
Ludwig Wittgenstein
11.5. Other Subfields: Some Examples
11.6. Conclusions for Philosophers of Technology
12. Philosophy of Technology and Other Academic Disciplines: Interdisciplinarity and Transdisciplinarity
Case/Technology: Robotics and Interdisciplinarity
12.1. Introduction
12.2. Some Examples of Transdisciplinary Work for Philosophers of Technology
In Focus: Deborah Johnson
Technology: Humanoid Robots
In Focus: Wiebe Bijker
12.3. Challenges for Transdisciplinary Work
13. Philosophy of Technology and Other Practices Beyond Academia
Case/Technology: "Killer Drones" and Activism
13.1. Beyond Academia: Innovation, Policy, and Art
In Focus: Jeroen Van Den Hoven
In Focus: Robert Frodeman
Technology: Smartphones, Tablets, and Other Smart Devices
13.2. Some Directions and Recommendations Concerning the Future of Research in Philosophy of Technology and Its Potential Implications for Education
