Animal Constructions and Technological Knowledge

by Ashley Shew

Animal studies literature, and its public consumption have sparked interest in questions about humanity. Most scholars aim these studies to help us sort out how we should regard other creatures and how we should understand ourselves in light of their capacities. This book offers something a little different, investigating the conceptual limits of tool-use and technology through the lens of technological knowledge. Making sense of animal studies can be tricky because of long-held and culturally pervasive beliefs and messages about human triumph over nature (where animals are considered to be part of nature). Animal Constructions and Technological Knowledge, considers animal tool use, techniques, and construction within the context of theories about what constitutes technology and what constitutes knowledge.

With reference to an engaging variety of animal case studies, primarily from research on apes, dolphins, and crows, this book shows how concepts from philosophy of technology can be used to make better sense of the animal cases. These animal cases also help us to refine our philosophical concepts, creating more careful distinction and uniting different accounts of technological knowledge.

150 pages, Hardcover

Published September 20, 2017

About the author

Ashley Shew is an associate professor of science, technology, and society at Virginia Tech, and specializes in disability studies and technology ethics. Her books include Against Technoableism, Animal Constructions, and Technological Knowledge and Spaces for the Future (coedited). She lives in Blacksburg, Virginia.