Essays in Post-Critical Philosophy of Technology

The essays in this volume explore technology not simply as applied science, but as a semi-autonomous force in human practice and in social evolution. The philosophical approaches to technology of Michael Polanyi and Albert Borgmann are featured in many of the essays. Polanyi’s concept of post-critical philosophy unites the essays. Post-critical thought roots technological development in fallible goal-centered tacit embodiment. Thus reliance on foundational thinking and explicit theories of technological causality are rejected. Among the topics thoughtfully explored are the disruptive explanatory impact of digital computers that learn, the epistemology of engineering, the embodied linkage of technical and aesthetic thought, metaphysical analysis of screens, whether technological aids in painting should affect aesthetic judgment, how hyperreality can constrict choice, the opacity of technological equipment as a producer of crisis, and how uncertainty in judgment affects automatic decision support systems. The essays thus deal with issues at the forefront of discussion in the philosophy of technology and its social impact.

Walter Gulick

Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Humanities and Religious Studies

Montana State University Billings