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What Things Do : Philosophical Reflections on Technology, Agency, and Design / Peter-Paul Verbeek.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: University Park, PA : Penn State University Press, [2021]Copyright date: ©2005Description: 1 online resource (264 p.) : 3 illustrationsContent type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780271033228
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 306.4/6 22
LOC classification:
  • T14 .V48 2005eb
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources:
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface and Acknowledgments -- Introduction:To the Things Themselves -- Part I: Philosophy Beyond Things -- 1 Technology and the Self -- 2 The Thing About Technology -- Part II: Philosophy From Things -- 3 Postphenomenology -- 4 A Material Hermeneutic -- 5 The Acts of Artifacts -- 6 Devices and the Good Life -- Part III: Philosophy For Things -- 7 Artifacts in Design 203 -- Bibliography -- Index
Summary: Our modern society is flooded with all sorts of devices: TV sets, automobiles, microwaves, mobile phones. How are all these things affecting us? How can their role in our lives be understood? What Things Do answers these questions by focusing on how technologies mediate our actions and our perceptions of the world. Peter-Paul Verbeek develops this innovative approach by first distinguishing it from the classical philosophy of technology formulated by Jaspers and Heidegger, who were concerned that technology would alienate us from ourselves and the world around us. Against this gloomy and overly abstract view, Verbeek draws on and extends the work of more recent philosophers of technology like Don Ihde, Bruno Latour, and Albert Borgmann to present a much more empirically rich and nuanced picture of how material artifacts shape our existence and experiences. In the final part of the book Verbeek shows how his "postphenomenological" approach applies to the technological practice of industrial designers. Its systematic and historical review of the philosophy of technology makes What Things Do suitable for use as an introductory text, while its innovative approach will make it appealing to readers in many fields, including philosophy, sociology, engineering, and industrial design.

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface and Acknowledgments -- Introduction:To the Things Themselves -- Part I: Philosophy Beyond Things -- 1 Technology and the Self -- 2 The Thing About Technology -- Part II: Philosophy From Things -- 3 Postphenomenology -- 4 A Material Hermeneutic -- 5 The Acts of Artifacts -- 6 Devices and the Good Life -- Part III: Philosophy For Things -- 7 Artifacts in Design 203 -- Bibliography -- Index

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Our modern society is flooded with all sorts of devices: TV sets, automobiles, microwaves, mobile phones. How are all these things affecting us? How can their role in our lives be understood? What Things Do answers these questions by focusing on how technologies mediate our actions and our perceptions of the world. Peter-Paul Verbeek develops this innovative approach by first distinguishing it from the classical philosophy of technology formulated by Jaspers and Heidegger, who were concerned that technology would alienate us from ourselves and the world around us. Against this gloomy and overly abstract view, Verbeek draws on and extends the work of more recent philosophers of technology like Don Ihde, Bruno Latour, and Albert Borgmann to present a much more empirically rich and nuanced picture of how material artifacts shape our existence and experiences. In the final part of the book Verbeek shows how his "postphenomenological" approach applies to the technological practice of industrial designers. Its systematic and historical review of the philosophy of technology makes What Things Do suitable for use as an introductory text, while its innovative approach will make it appealing to readers in many fields, including philosophy, sociology, engineering, and industrial design.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 21. Jun 2021)