What is Technology?
Tue, Feb 17
While technology ethics may be a relatively new field within academia, the rigorous study of technology is nothing new. One of the most important voices on these matters is the philosopher Martin Heidegger, who doesn't share the pessimism of many of today's technology ethicists. Today's class will focus on his work around technology, which will help frame our later lectures on ethical technology development.
We have three main in-class learning goals. By the end of lecture today you will:
- Have a sense of the telos of technology.
- Appreicate technology's relationship to art.
- Gain an understanding of how (informational) technology can be used to control outcomes.
The slides for today's lecture.
Read This:
Martin Heidegger's classic essay The Question Concerning Technology (you did buy the paperback, right?)
Peter-Paul Verbeek from the University of Twente provides an explainer to "The Question Concerning Technology"
The late Berkeley philosopher Hubert Dreyfus gives us his own interpretation of The Question Concerning Technology
Do This:
Writing Reflection 04
See the instructions posted on the assignment's page.
This writing reflection is due on 2/24 at 5pm.
This Week's Dialogue Group Meeting
Find at least one hour to meet with your group to discuss the prompt of the week: Pick a digital technology that you use or are interested in to analyze through dialogue. What are the key features of the chosen technology?
Once you have completed the readings, fill out the following quiz. If you can't see the form below, try this direct link.