Wow! eBook
Technology and the Philosophy of Religion
Author(s): David Lewin (Author)
- Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
- Publication Date: 1 Mar. 2011
- Edition: 1st
- Language: English
- Print length: 250 pages
- ISBN-10: 1443825131
- ISBN-13: 9781443825139
Book Description
The last one hundred years has seen unimaginable technological progress transforming every aspect of human life. Yet we seem unable to shake a profound unease with the direction of modern technology and its ideological siblings, global capitalism and massive consumption. Philosophers such as Marcuse, Borgmann and especially Heidegger, have developed important analyses of technological society, however in this book David Lewin argues that their ideas have remained limited either by their secular context, or by the narrow conception of religion that they do allow. This study guides the reader along the newly formed paths of the philosophy of technology, arguing that where those paths come to an abrupt end, a religious discourse is needed to articulate the ultimate concerns that drive technological action. It calls for a meditation on the central insight of many religious traditions that, in an ultimate sense, we ‘know not what we do.’ To acknowledge that we know not what we do is the first step towards a theology of technology that draws upon insights from the mystical theological tradition, as well as from recent developments in the continental philosophy of religion.
Editorial Reviews
Review
Dr Lewin has provided a generally lucid account and analysis of philosophical approaches to technology that does not shrink from addressing the complexities of Heidegger s philosophy (made more complex by Heidegger s dense prose and frequent coining of neologisms). The study s great service is to focus thought on the deep causes of the intellectual, moral and spiritual flatness of much contemporary life, principally, the exclusive focus on technological, instrumental, utilitarian modes of thought and the extent to which this dehumanising tendency can be found in all branches of thought, culture and action. –Charles Brickdale
This is a lucid and engaged study of the philosophy of technology, which refuses to stay within the confines of a narrowly defined technical field. Lewin argues that any philosophy of this area must attend to the ultimate concerns which are implicit within technology . . . [T]his is a powerful and well-argued book, which demonstrates the continued vitality of the Heideggerian moment. –Steven Shakespeare, Lecturer in Philosophy, Liverpool Hope University
About the Author
David Lewin is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy of Education at Liverpool Hope University (UK). His research addresses the religious and philosophical implications of modern technology, as well as related philosophical issues in education. In addition to publishing several articles on the philosophy of technology and its relation to religious philosophy, he has recently published Technology and the Philosophy of Religion (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2011) and (co-edited with Todd Mei) From Ricoeur to Action: the Socio-Political Signficance of Ricoeur’s Thinking (Continuum, 2012).
