Bloomsbury Invasive Technification: Critical Essays In The Philosophy Of Technology

Technology has extended its reach to the humanbody, not just in a literal sense, through implants, transplants andtechnological substitutes for biological organs, but in a more figurative sensetoo. Technological infrastructure and the institutions of a technified society todaydetermine what perception is, how we communicate and what forms of humanrelationship with the natural world are possible. A fundamental new conceptionof technology is urgently needed. Technology can no longer be seen as a meansfor efficiently attaining pre-established ends. Rather, it must be seen as a total structure which makes new forms ofhuman action and human relationship possible, while limiting the possibilitiesof others. In InvasiveTechnification, acclaimed German philosopher Gernot Böhme offers a readingof technology that explores the many dimensions in which technology presentschallenges for modern human beings. It is a book about the preservation ofhumanity and humane values under the demanding conditions of a technicallyadvanced civilisation and makes a major contribution to the contemporaryphilosophy of technology. Review 'Böhme is a worthy successor to Ellul and Mumford, one who brings the critique of technology up to date by accounting for the recent explosion of new technologies undreamt of by his illustrious predecessors. He also goes beyond them in basing his analysis on a much more developed philosophical orientation focused on the effect of technology on Nature; and thus he is able to assess its invasive impact on human nature, on what we are as bodies and minds and what we might become under its influence. His book is essential reading for anyone who is interested in this issue, arguably the most important one that humanity has to face.'CHOICESumming Up: Recommended. Science/technology and philosophy collections, upper-divisionundergraduates and above. About the Author Cameron Shingleton is a lecturer at the Melbourne School of Continental Philosophy, University of Melbourne, Australia. Gernot Bohme was Professor of Philosophy at Darmstadt's Technische Univeritat, Germany, between 1977 and 2002. He rose to prominence in Germany with work in aesthetics, the philosophy of nature, the philosophy of embodiment, the philosophy of science/technology and his conception of practical philosophy as a capacity for dealing with the exigencies of life. His publications in English include Ethics in Context (Polity, 2001).