Jaymie Ticknor Intro Philosophy 1050 Sect 003 28 and 30 April 2014 Borgman Consumption Technology and the self 4 views of technology Lecture 23 Instrumentalist view an instrument by which to procure certain social values which arise independent of it value neutral problem here is that this is a short sighted view separates means from ends in an artificial manner Substantive view viewed as a force in its own right shapes both society and values from the ground up often adopted by anti technologists seen as the root of all evil Pluralist view account for the dynamic interaction between the various forces which serve to shape our social values and our understanding of technology Device Paradigm role of technology is to liberate humanity from the misery and toil associated with dominating the world enrich human life liberation and enrichment require availability which entails that it be instantaneous safe and easy inventions and devices we are losing the social context in which things belong and isolating ourselves from older traditions and customs technology liberates humanity from the misery and toil associated with dominating the world and to enrich human life Commodities highly reduced entities and abstract in the sense that within the overall framework of technology they are free of local and historical ties sharply defined and easily measured no skills required no other significance attached to them Things engage us in so many and subtle ways that no quantification can capture them skills required not just the objects themselves but also include the emotional feelings and meaning that might be connected with the object Consumption is the increasing the percentage of commodities over things Technology is taking away a very important part of our lives dependence on new The Moral Complexion of Consumption Two kinds of Consumption Consumption up to sustenance Paradigmatic excessive consumption do not need to survive Critiques of Excessive Consumption Ecological disaster displacement effect social injustice moral equivalences as greed Degrades the symmetry of humanity and reality The Device Paradigm consumerist culture that prides commodities over things has caused a complete separation of means from ends looking for pure pleasure without the pain effort exertion struggle Consumption and production were close together before technology symmetry burdens taking away by machinery limitless wants Principle of symmetry between reality and humanity says that the quality of the human condition and the quality of the material environment tend toward one and the same level the human enterprise of technology began to dislocate the natural symmetry when it is detached pleasures from their context of exertion Solution focal things and practices quality of pleasure is different