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This volume grew out of the experience of the First Inter-American Congress on Philosophy of Technology, October 1988, organized by the Center for the Philosophy and History of Science and Technology of the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagiiez. The Spanish-language proceedings of that conference have been published in Carl Mitcham and Margarita M. Peiia Borrero, with Elena Lugo and James Ward, eds., El nuevo mundo de la filosofta y la tecnolog(a (University Park, PA: STS Press, 1990). This volume contains thirty-two papers, twenty-two summaries, an introduction and biographical notes, to provide a full record of that seminal gathering. Discussions with Paul T. Durbin and others - including many who participated in the Second Inter-American Congress on Philosophy of Technology, University of Puerto Rico in Mayagiiez, March 199- raised the prospect of an English-language proceedings in the Philosophy and Technology series. But after due consideration it was agreed that a more general volume was needed to introduce English-speaking readers to a growing body of literature on the philosophy of technology in the Spanish-speaking world. As such, the present volume includes Spanish as well as Latin American authors, historical and contemporary figures, some who did and many who did not participate in the first and second inter-American congresses.
List of contents
I From Chile.- Technology and Politics: Toward Artificial History?.- Globalization: Homogenization with an Increasing Technological Gap.- Thinking Machines and the Crisis of Modern Reason.- Ethics, Science, and Technology.- II From Costa Rica.- Contributions to the Philosophy of Technology in Costa Rica.- Science, Technology, and Development: Some Models of Their Relationship.- Ethics, Pernicious Technology, and the "Technological Argument".- III From Mexico.- Technology and Basic Needs: Proposal for a Debate on Fundamental Criteria.- On Technique.- Technological Objects and Their Epistemological Base.- Satellites and Our Morality.- IV From Spain.- Technology and Human Nature.- Philosophy, Technology, and Society.- Does Technology "Construct" Scientific Reality?.- The Design and Evaluation of Technologies: Some Conceptual Issues.- From World3 to the Social Assessment of Technology: Remarks on Science, Technology, and Society.- Genethics: The Social Assessment of the Risks and Impacts of Genetic Engineering.- V From Venezuela.- Science, Technology, History, and Philosophy in the Cultural Atmosphere of Our Time.- The Present and Future of Humanity.- Education for Freedom versus Socio-Technical Control by Pedagogical Means.- VI From Other Americas.- Two Philosophical Approaches to the Problem of Technics and Their Meaning for Latin America.- Science, Technology, and Society Education in the Latin American Context.- The Moral Vision of Technology in Contemporary Latin American Fiction.- The Social Implications of Information Technologies: A Latin American Perspective.- Notes on Contributors.- Name Index.
