Technology and Human Values

COURSE INSTRUCTOR            Dr. Steven Walton, 202 Old Botany
                                                Phone: 863-9526            E-mail: saw23@psu.edu
                                                Office Hours: TR: 11: 00-2:00 (with lunch break)
                                                                                    or by appointment.
www.personal.psu.edu/saw23/courses.html
and ANGEL content

Old Course Syllabus: (2006)

COURSE MEETING TIMES

Mondays 2:30-5:30PM 014 Henderson

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course is designed to investigate the interrelationships of 20th century technology and the social understandings of that technology, mostly in an American context. The world actually became technological in the modern sense in the 19th century with the advent of the factory system and the mass distribution of goods and techniques in a fundamental break with the past. We may well be on the verge of such a break again with the information revolution and the recent globalization of economics and production, and investigating the meaning of technology to our culture and ourselves may be an important element of making that (potential) transition successfully. Ultimately this course is about a deeper, second-order understanding about technology in the modern world. Philosophical, moral, and ethical aspects of technological progress often provide important if not crucial factors for understanding how technologies evolve (or devolve) and are modified and/or replaced. Although we will begin with some mainline philosophical critiques of technology, the course is not intended to be an academic philosophy course, but rather an exercise of applied philosophy, so do not fear if you feel you do not have an extensive background in philosophy.
Ultimately, our goal is to arrive at some normative statements about technology in today’s (and tomorrow’s) society.

GRADING

The course mark is based primarily on written work, but also on a research presentation and moderation of one class session (for an article for PHIL/STS 407, for a class period for STS589). There is no final exam, as your research paper fills that role. The differential grading for students in the two classes are shown below:

Task PHIL/STS 407
Introductory essay 10%
Response Papers (3) 45%
Research Presentation 10%
Research Essay 25%
Participation 10%
Total 100%

READING

There are 3 main books for the courses, which are available in the local bookstores (confirmed for the campus store):

? Ursula Franklin, The Real World of Technology,
Revised Edition (House of Anasasi, 1998).
? George Grant, Technology and Justice
(Univ. of Notre Dame Press, 1987).
? Donald MacKenzie and Judy Wajcman (eds.),
The Social Shaping of Technology (McGraw Hill, 1999)

In addition, there are a number of articles (some from these books) available as PDFs on the course website as we go along, and sometimes I will have a handout or two for the following week’s reading.

TASKS

This course requires that you complete a number tasks throughout the term. The first three of these are not meant to be onerous, but to get you thinking in written form and making arguments about your topic.
• The introductory essay (at least 5 pages; assignment attached below) is due on Monday 10 September in class. It will be graded in the typical ABC manner, but only on content (although I will bleed on it for grammatical problems and take note that you will need to do better on future papers). It is meant to get you writing and to give you feedback on your abilities, as well as to get a sense of where you are coming from.
• You need to do three short response essays (5-7 pages each), one by 1 October, the second before Thanksgiving, and the third the first week of December. These are devised as both reading checks and thought primers. Questions are on the separate handout.
• In lieu of a final examination, you will be writing a modest research paper on a topic that explores the value structures surrounding a 20th/21st century technology and tying it to our in-class readings and discussion. You may think of it as an exercise in activist applied philosophy if you like. The topic of your paper is entirely up to you, subject to my ratification; it may be tied to your own discipline if you like, but it does not have to be. I will ask you to have settled on a topic by Monday 29 October, when you will submit a written plan of action and preliminary bibliography.
• Finally, the last two weeks of class, everyone will give a 10-15 minute presentation of their research topic. This will be a formal, standup presentation (with A/V if you like). You will be given feedback on both your topic and thought, as well as presentation abilities and manner – you will not be graded, per se.

WEEKLY TOPICS

Items marked with a † are available as a PDF file on the course website
(note that ANGEL links to it). The password for all files is “iguana”.

DATE TOPICS READINGS (DUE ON THE DAY LISTED)
27 Aug. Intro, organization and thoughts on Philosophy, Technology & Society —
3 Sept. Labor Day
—no class—
10 Sept. Technology, Past and Present

Intro Paper Due †Postman, “Technology“
Grant, ch. 1 (pp. 9-35)
†Brittain, "Technology and Nostalgia"
†M.L. Smith, “Recourse of Empire: Landscapes of Progress in Technological America”
17 Sept. Philosophical Reflections on Technology †Heidegger, “The Question Concerning Technology“
†Melzer, “The Problem with the ‘Problem of Technology’“
24 Sept. Artifacts and everyday life MacKenzie, ch. 1, 7, 6
Franklin, ch. 1-3
†Newton, “The Technology Question”
1 Oct. Modes of Analysis
Response 1 Due MacKenzie, ch. 12-13, 9, 10
Grant, ch. 2 (pp. 35-77)
8 Oct. —no class—
15 Oct. Shift class to Wednesday-Friday afternoon? or an evening? Pizza party? Franklin, ch. 4-10
22 Oct. Determinism and Momentum †Smith, “Technological Determinism in American Culture”
†Heilbronner, “Do Machines Make History?” and “Technological Determinism Revisited”
†Hughes, “Technological Momentum“
29 Oct. Autonomous Technology

Topics and Bibliography due †Winner, “Technologies as Forms of Life“
†Winner, “Frankenstein’s Problem; Autonomous Technology“
5 Nov. Technologies of Life/Death Grant, ch. 5 (pp. 103-115)
MacKenzie, ch. 2
12 Nov. Technologies of Death/Life
Response 2 Due Grant, ch. 6 (pp. 117-130)
MacKenzie, ch. 23
19 Nov. Thanksgiving Week
—no class—
26 Nov. TBD TBD
3 Dec. Presentation of Student Work
Response 3 Due
10 Dec. Presentation of Student Work