New Directions in the Philosophy of Technology

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-ix

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2. Discovery, Telescopes, and Progress

   • Joseph C. Pitt

   Pages 1-16

3. Technology and Science-Based Heuristics

   • Peter Kroes

   Pages 17-39

4. To an Eye in a Fixed Position: Glass, Art and Vision

   • Edward Wachtel

   Pages 41-61

5. The Structure of Technological Revolutions and the Gutenberg Myth

   • Scott D. N. Cook

   Pages 63-83

6. Paradigms and Paraphernalia: on the Relation Between Theory and Technology in Science

   • Daniel DeNicola

   Pages 85-93

7. Technology and Anaximander’s Cosmical Imagination

   • Robert Hahn

   Pages 95-138

8. Technological Values in the Applied Science Laboratory

   • Paul B. Thompson

   Pages 139-151

9. The Normative Implications of the Configuration of the Applied Sciences: A Comment on Thompson

   • M. Heyboer

   Pages 153-157

10. Reply to Heyboer

    • Paul B. Thompson

    Pages 159-162

11. Technological Neutrality and the Changing Normative Context of Applied Science Research

    • Philip T. Shepard

    Pages 163-184

12. Idealizations, Externalities, and the Economic Analysis of Law

    • Ronald Laymon

    Pages 185-206

13. Techniques of Discovery: Broad and Narrow Characterizations of Technology

    • Larry A. Hickman

    Pages 207-218

14. Back Matter

    Pages 219-225

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In this collection we finally find the philosophy of technology, a young and rapidly developing area of scholarly interest, making contact with history of science and technology, and mainstream epistemological and metaphysical issues. The sophistication of these papers indicates the maturity of the field as it moves away from the advocacy of anti-technology ideological posturing toward a deeper understanding of the options and restraints technological developments provide.
The papers presented here take us over a threshold into the real world of complicated social and technological interactions where science and art are shown to be integral to our understanding of technological change, and technological innovations are seen as configuring our knowledge of the world and opening up new possibilities for human development. With its rich historical base, this volume will be of interest to all students concerned about the interactions among technology, society, and philosophy.

• development
• history
• philosophy of technology
• science
• technology

• Department of Philosophy, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, USA

  Joseph C. Pitt

• Department of Philosophy, State University, Blacksburg, USA

  Joseph C. Pitt

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