Blending social analysis and philosophy, Albert Borgmann maintains that technology creates a controlling pattern in our lives. This pattern, discernible even in such an inconspicuous action as switching on a stereo, has global effects: it sharply divides life into labor and leisure, it sustains the industrial democracies, and it fosters the view that the earth itself is a technological device. He argues that technology has served us as well in conquering hunger and disease, but that when we turn to it for richer experiences, it leads instead to a life dominated by effortless and thoughtless consumption. Borgmann does not reject technology but calls for public conversation about the nature of the good life. He counsels us to make room in a technological age for matters of ultimate concern—things and practices that engage us in their own right.
FREE Two-Day Shipping for students on millions of items. Learn more |
| ||||||||||||||||||
 Sell Back Your Copy for $5.40
Whether you buy it used on Amazon for $14.84 or somewhere else, you can sell it back through our Book Trade-In Program at the current price of $5.40.
Used Price$14.84
Trade-in Price$5.40
Price after
Trade-in$9.44 |
Book Description
Special Offers and Product Promotions
- Buy $50 in qualifying physical textbooks, get $5 in Amazon MP3 Credit. Here's how (restrictions apply)
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Albert Borgmann is Regents Professor of Philosophy at the University of Montana. He is the author of Crossing the Postmodern Divide, also published by the University of Chicago Press.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not really about technology,
By
This review is from: Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life: A Philosophical Inquiry (Paperback)
If you are interested in the philosophy of technology, skip this book and keep looking. Borgmann defines technology as developments since the industrial revolution. Many of his claims may stand within this narrow definition of technology but lose their force when considering technology in a broader sense.
Rather than a critique of technology, the book actually critiques consumerism. In this, the book is thought-provoking and worth reading. Although Borgmann assumes (incorrectly, I believe) a linkage between technology and consumerism, the linkage is not necessary to the critique of consumerism. Unfortunately, like most social critics, Borgmann does not present tangible suggestions for changing course.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Inside This Book
(learn more)
First Sentence:
The advanced technological way of life is usually seen as rich in styles and opportunities, pregnant with radical innovations, and open to a promising future. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
public deictic discourse, pretechnological work, focal things, pretechnological setting, device paradigm, focal practices, technological leisure, pretechnological times, technological machinery, pretechnological world, paradigmatic explanation, traditional excellence, technological liberation, technological universe, active assent, collective affirmation, liberal democratic theorists, technological labor, focal concerns, technological pattern, orienting force, automated industry, productive machinery, broad middle class Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Aristotelian Principle, International Style, Ronald Dworkin, United States, Middle Ages, Third World, Duane Elgin, John Rawls, North America, Buckminster Fuller, Business Week, Hannah Arendt, Langdon Winner, Second World War New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
The advanced technological way of life is usually seen as rich in styles and opportunities, pregnant with radical innovations, and open to a promising future. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
public deictic discourse, pretechnological work, focal things, pretechnological setting, device paradigm, focal practices, technological leisure, pretechnological times, technological machinery, pretechnological world, paradigmatic explanation, traditional excellence, technological liberation, technological universe, active assent, collective affirmation, liberal democratic theorists, technological labor, focal concerns, technological pattern, orienting force, automated industry, productive machinery, broad middle class Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Aristotelian Principle, International Style, Ronald Dworkin, United States, Middle Ages, Third World, Duane Elgin, John Rawls, North America, Buckminster Fuller, Business Week, Hannah Arendt, Langdon Winner, Second World War New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
See all 100 books this book cites
42
books
cite this book:
See all 42 books citing this book
- A Theory of Justice by John Rawls on 8 pages
- New Rules by Daniel Yankelovich on 8 pages
- Philosophy and Technology by Carl Mitcham on 7 pages
- Technics and Civilization by Lewis Mumford on 6 pages
- Social Limits to Growth (Twentieth Century Fund Study) by Fred Hirsch on 6 pages
See all 100 books this book cites
- Technology and the Good Life? by Eric Higgs on 17 pages
- Technology, Time, and the Conversations of Modernity by Lorenzo C. Simpson on 4 pages
- Poststructuralism, Citizenship and Social Policy by Ian Barns on page 180, and page 188
- Cornucopia Limited: Design and Dissent on the Internet by Richard Coyne in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Poststructuralism, Citizenship and Social Policy by Ian Barns on page 180, and page 188
See all 42 books citing this book
Books on Related Topics
(learn more)
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
