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The essays in this edited collection are inspired by Andrew Feenberg's philosophy of technology. Feenberg is the leading critical theorist of technology working today, combining the critical traditions of Karl Marx, Martin Heidegger, Georg Lukáacs, and Herbert Marcuse with empirical methods from science & technology studies (STS) and media studies.
Divided into three parts, these contributions from philosophers, media theorists, design theorists, and STS scholars, reflect the relevancy of Feenberg's philosophy for making sense of our technically mediated society. This collection appeals to students and researchers interested in the philosophy of technology, critical theory, smart cities, big data, AI, and algorithmic culture.
List of contents
Introduction: The Necessity (and Spirit) of Critique in Andrew Feenberg's Philosophy of Technology.- Critical Constructivism: An Exposition and Defense.- The Critical Theory of the Common Good, Technology, and the Corona Tracking App.- Andrew Feenberg and the Distorted Democratization of Technology: Covid-19 and the Case of Hydroxychloroquine.- Beyond the Design Code: Critical Design and Democratic Rationalizations.- Who Controls the Smart City? From Machines of Loving Grace to a Democratic Transformation from Below.- Critical (Big) Data Studies.- The Behaviourial Code: Recommender Systems and the Technical Code of Behaviourism.- The Algorithmic Thing, The Real, and Contestation: Tracing the Fringes of Critical Constructivism.- Beyond Efficiency: Comparing Andrew Feenberg's and Byung-Chul Han's Philosophy of Technology.- The Varieties of Praxis: Marx, Lukács, and Czechoslavak Marxism.- What Place for Nature within the Assessment ofTechnology?.- Is Critical Constructivism Critical Enough? Towards an Agonistic Philosophy of Technology.- Geschichtlichkeit, Life, and Technicity: From Heideggerian Marxism to the Critical Theory of Technology.
About the author
Darryl Cressman is an assistant professor in the philosophy department at Maastricht University who works in the philosophy of technology and science and technology studies (STS). Darryl received his PhD from Simon Fraser University (Vancouver) in 2012. He is the author of Building Musical Culture in Nineteenth-Century Amsterdam: The Concertgebouw (2016, Amsterdam University Press) as well as articles and book chapters on the philosophy of technology, critical theory, innovation studies, media philosophy, and sound studies.
Report
"An impressive, intense set of readings, Cressman's collection is a valuable scholarly contribution. Price and the final section's philosophical re-ontologizing make it hard to recommend The Necessity of Critique to practitioners not already deeply steeped in philosophy. This volume is worth reading." (Gregory Zobel, Technical Communication, Vol. 70 (3), August, 2023)
