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As Europe moves toward 1992 and full economic unity, and as Eastern Europe tries to find its way in the new economic order, the United States hesitates. Will the new European economic order be good for the U.S. or not? Such a question is exacerbated by world-wide changes in the technological order, most evident in Japan's new techno-economic power. As might be expected, philosophers have been slow to come to grips with such issues, and lack of interest is compounded by different philosophical styles in different parts of the world. What this volume addresses is more a matter of conflicting styles than a substantive confrontation with the real-world issues. But there is some attempt to be concrete. The symposium on Ivan Illich - with contributions from philosophers and social critics at the Penns- vania State University, where Illich has taught for several years - may suggest the old cliche of Old World vs. New World. Illich's fulminations against technology are often dismissed by Americans as old-world-style prophecy, while Illich seems largely unknown in his native Europe. But Albert Borgmann, born in Germany though now settled in the U.S., shows that this old dichotomy is difficult to maintain in our technological world. Borgmann's focus is on urgent technological problems that have become almost painfully evident in both Europe and America.
List of contents
INTRODUCTION: The Development of Technology in Eastern and Western Europe.- I Symposium on Ivan Illich.- Ivan Illich's Philosophy of Technology: Introduction.- Tools for Conviviality: Argument, Insight, Influence.- Ivan Illich and Deschooling Society: A Reappraisal.- Ivan Illich's Medical Nemesis: Fifteen Years Later.- Ivan Illich's H2O and the Waters of Forgetfulness.- II Miscellany.- The Technology of Desire: John Dewey, Social Criticism, and the Aesthetics of Human Existence.- Ideology, Technocracy, and Knowledge Utilization.- Technology and Scientific Concepts: Mechanics and the Concept of Mass in Archimedes.- The Limited Promise of Technology Assessment.- Adam Smith and Alma Mater: Technology and the Threat to Academic Freedom.- III Symposium on Education in Science, Technology, and Values.- Symposium on Education in Science, Technology, and Values: Introduction.- Science and Technology Education as Civic Education.- STS, Critical Thinking, and Philosophy for Children.- STS Education and the Paradox of Green Studies.
