Contact us on (02) 8445 2300
For all customer service and order enquiries

Woodslane Online Catalogues

Technology and Anarchy

A Reading of Our Era
Description
Author
Biography
Table of
Contents
Reviews
Google
Preview
In Technology and Anarchy: A Reading of Our Era, Simona Chiodo argues that the technological era can be read as the most radical form of anarchism ever experienced. People are not only removing the role of the expert as a mediator, but also trying, for the first time in history, to replace the role of a transcendent god itself by creating, especially through computer engineering, a totally immanent technological entity characterized by the typical ontological prerogatives of the divine: omnipresence (by being everywhere), omniscience (by knowing everything, especially about us) and omnipotence (by having power, especially over us), as well as inscrutability. Chiodo proposes a novel view of our technological era by reading it as the last step of a precise trajectory of Western thought, i.e. as the most radical form of anarchism we have ever experienced, due to the crisis of the founding epistemological relationship between ideality and reality. By doing this, Chiodo helps fill the gap between technological innovation and the humanities, which is becoming an emerging research goal that is more and more urgent in order to face the greatest challenges of our present and future.
Simona Chiodo is professor of philosophy at the Politecnico di Milano.
Contents Introduction The Evolution of Prometheus, From Past to Present to Future HomoAnarchicus Reading Our Technological Era Radical Externalisation Farewell to Humans? The Most Radical Form of Anarchism We Have Ever Experienced Conclusion References
"An original interpretation of Western technological culture, based on the idea that we use technology to evade individual responsibility: we install an immanent divine to externalize epistemological and ethical decisions and create a technological scapegoat. After engaging with the myth of Prometheus and other literature, Chiodo argues that this 'anarchistic' move is a continuation of a history of giving away control of reality to logos, which we have now narrowed down to computation and its externalization in algorithmic machines. Compulsory reading for anyone interested in understanding our technological era."--Mark Coeckelbergh, University of Vienna "In a time when algorithms determine more and more in our everyday lives, we need to reflect on what role technology should have in our societies. Professor Chiodo does so in a fascinating and inspiring way, making efficient use of ancient myths and literary classics. Prometheus has much more to do with healthcare algorithms than what one would think before reading this book."--Sven Ove Hansson, Royal Institute of Technology
Google Preview content