Customer Reviews

Autonomous Technology: Technics-out-of-Control as a Theme in Political Thought

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This book is simply the best introduction to the philosophy and politics of technology. No competition.

Winner discusses a wide range of literature on the subject, from authors such as Jacques Ellul, Marx, Heidegger, and others. He uses these ideas as a springboard to cover many of the ideas they brought up with much more depth and clarity.

Some of the most interesting ideas discussed include (amongst others):

* "Reverse adaptation" -- when technologies force us to modify our ends/goals/purposes in order to meet the needs of our means/tools/techniques

* "Technological imperative" -- how technology changes the structure of human societies, even before they have been put into use (e.g. in order to create an environment conducive to their use)

* "Neutrality" -- Winner smashes the myth of tools being "neutral" (the idea that tools can't be inherently good or bad, and that only the way they are *used* can be good/bad)

Don't be put off by the fact that the book was originally published back in the 1970s -- the ideas are every bit as applicable (much more so actually...) today as they were then.

Highly recommended.