Description
Book SynopsisIn this unique, enlightening monograph, Toivo Koivukoski explores the circumstances that have led modern society to use the concept of progress as a surrogate cosmology that gives individuals a sense of place and purpose. By linking various historical paradigms from German Idealist philosophy to contemporary philosophies of technology, this work of political theory describes an alternative, immanent pattern of development that is, in a sense, driven by its own unintended consequences. The meditations outlined within this book map out the hypertext pathways of our global system, making its constitutive relations and underlying thought processes transparent. Koivukoski mirrors the new hyper-realities of electronic communications technologies by structuring the text in compact subchapters that are linked through an index of subjects that allows readers to find their own philosophy by jumping to areas of interest. If, as he argues, history understood in a linear, lockstep fashion is over
Trade ReviewRecommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty, and professionals. -- W. K. Bauchspies, associate professor, sociology of science, Georgia Institute of Technology * CHOICE, April 2009 *
The author is at his best in examining the postmodern world's many facets. -- Tobias Lanz * Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture, June 2009 *
This book is both profound and important. The text is a self-generating dance of relations, a shimmering reflection of its subject: our technology and ourselves. Its greatest strength is clear-eyed courage and clear expression. The result is an array of brilliant insights that often take the reader by surprise, forcing him to turn around, catch his breath, and think. -- Tom Darby, Carleton University
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Table of Subjects Chapter 2 By Way of an Introduction Chapter 3 Overview Chapter 4 Section 1: Thinking Technology to its Ends Chapter 5 Section 2: From a Post-Historical Worldview Chapter 6 Section 3: Experiments in Post-Humanism Chapter 7 Section 4: Technological Imperium and its Limits
