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What Things Do: Philosophical Reflections on Technology, Agency, and Design
 
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What Things Do: Philosophical Reflections on Technology, Agency, and Design (Paperback)

by Peter-Paul Verbeek (Author), Robert Crease (Translator)
3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
RRP: £26.95
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Product details

  • Paperback: 249 pages
  • Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press; illustrated edition edition (31 May 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0271025409
  • ISBN-13: 978-0271025407
  • Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.2 x 2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 237,233 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review
"This is really a good book. The goal is to advance our philosophical and cultural understanding of technology with a focused interpretation of artifacts or material culture....Verbeek demonstrates a solid appreciation of what has gone before him, fairly explicates and criticizes (his criticisms are always judicious and acknowledge others), and then creatively extends the movement toward a fuller appreciation of artifacts. If I were to give this book my own title, it would be 'Artifacts Have Consequences' (playing off the Richard Weaver book 'Ideas Have Consequences')."

Product Description
Our modern society is flooded with all sorts of devices: TV sets, automobiles, microwaves, mobile phones. How are all these things affecting us? How can their role in our lives be understood? What Things Do answers these questions by focusing on how technologies mediate our actions and our perceptions of the world. Peter-Paul Verbeek develops this innovative approach by first distinguishing it from the classical philosophy of technology formulated by Jaspers and Heidegger, who were concerned that technology would alienate us from ourselves and the world around us. Against this gloomy and overly abstract view, Verbeek draws on and extends the work of more recent philosophers of technology like Don Ihde, Bruno Latour, and Albert Borgmann to present a much more empirically rich and nuanced picture of how material artifacts shape our existence and experiences. In the final part of the book Verbeek shows how his "postphenomenological" approach applies to the technological practice of industrial designers. Its systematic and historical review of the philosophy of technology makes What Things Do suitable for use as an introductory text, while its innovative approach will make it appealing to readers in many fields including philosophy, sociology, engineering, and industrial design.

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3.0 out of 5 stars A very good book, but could have gone further, 3 April 2009
By S. Walker (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This book provides a very good overview of some important contemporary issues related to technology, However, Veerbeck's critique of Borgmann is, in my view, too harsh and gives little credit to the depth and sensitivity of Borgmann's thesis. Rather surprisingly, after such a lengthy build up and critique, the latter sections on design, technology and sustainability add very little that is new. Nevertheless, an important addition to the philosophy of technology.
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