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
COURSE MEETING TIMES
                                    Mondays 2:30-5:30PM                                    110 Sackett
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:

Reading

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

• Kristen Schrader-Frechette and Laura Westra (eds.), Technology and Values (Rowman & Littlefield, 1997).
• Andrew Feenberg, Transforming Technology: a critical theory revisited (Oxford U.P. 2002).
• Merrit Roe Smith and Leo Marx (eds.), Does Technology Drive History? The dilemma of technological determinism (MIT Press, 1994).

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 19 September in class.  It is not graded in the usual sense - a satisfactory paper will receive nearly full marks.  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 two short response essays (5-7 pages each), one by 24 October, the second before Thanksgiving.  You can write on any week at any time.  Questions are on the separate handout.
• Presentations are an important part of academics and also many jobs – consequently, I will ask each person to present their own work by the end of the term (weeks 8-15 we’ll have 2 people each day).  In addition you will all moderate some aspect of some week’s work.  UGs will take on a specific reading for a week, GRs will take over one day’s moderation in general.
• Finally, in lieu of a final examination, you will be writing a 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.  The topic of your paper is entirely up to you, subject to my ratification; it may be tied to your week's moderation or 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 10 October, when you will submit a written plan of action and preliminary bibliography.

WEEKLY TOPICS

• S-F&W = Kristen Schrader-Frechette and Laura Westra (eds.), Technology and Values
• AF = Andrew Feenberg, Transforming Technology
• S&M = Merrit Roe Smith and Leo Marx (eds.), Does Technology Drive History?

Items marked with a † are available as a pdf file on the course website (mine, not ANGEL).