Technology and the Lifeworld: From Garden to Earth

by Don Ihde

" . . . Dr. Ihde brings an enlightening and deeply humanistic perspective to major technological developments, both past and present." ―Science Books & Films

"Don Ihde is a pleasure to read. . . . The material is full of nice suggestions and details, empirical materials, fun variations which engage the reader in the work . . . the overall points almost sneak up on you, they are so gently and gradually offered." ―John Compton

"A sophisticated celebration of cultural diversity and of its enabling technologies. . . . perhaps the best single volume relating the philosophical tradition to the broad issues raised by contemporary technologies." ―Choice

" . . . important and challenging . . . " ―Review of Metaphysics

" . . . a range of rich historical, cultural, philosophical, and psychological insights, woven together in an intriguing and clear exposition . . . The book is really a pleasure to read, for its style, immense learning and sanity." ―Teaching Philosophy

The role of tools and instruments in our relation to the earth and the ways in which technologies are culturally embedded provide the foci of this thought-provoking book.

Genres: Philosophy, Technology, Nonfiction, Cultural

244 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Don Ihde is an American philosopher of science and technology. In 1979 he wrote what is often identified as the first North American work on philosophy of technology, Technics and Praxis. Before his retirement, Don Ihde was Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Reviews

[Bryan Kibbe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don Ihde is surely one of the great philosophers of technology, and this book represents much of the foundation of his thought and ideas about technology in the modern world. A worthy read for anyone interested in a careful analysis of how we interface with various technologies. I found the first half of the book to be particularly constructive in breaking down technology relationships into those of embodiment, hermeneutic, and alterity. I wasespecially impressed with Ihde's balanced criticisms and ability to parse out and synthesize recent arguments concerning modern technology.

[Les Dart · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Program One: A Phenomenology of Technics" is the core chapter of the book and the one that has withstood time's test. Description of embodiment, hermeneutic, alterity, and background relations are worth reading.

[Audra · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be fair, I was mining this for gems relating to the impact of mindless adoption of technology. After how much a previous author liked and referred to this work, I thought I'd like it better, but found it fairly repetitive and dense. Still, interesting to see how prescient some of his comments about digital technology were way back in 1990. And his conclusion for a worldwide conservation ethic is jiving with calls from other authors I'm reading (namely Wendell Berry, who insists we don't incorporate the concept of return or waste handling or aftermath when considering the impact of various industries). Interesting that he flirts with animism as a remedy for detachment from nature, but doesn't endorse it because he views it as superstitious throwback.

[Bouke Van Balen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interessant om eens 'de fundering' van technologische bemiddelingstheorie te lezen. Ihde schrijft wel leuk, een beetje associatief en soms niet echt onderbouwd genoeg, maar het is leuk om te lezen. Grappig zijn de vele voorbeelden uit zijn persoonlijke leven. Je kunt niet ontsnappen aan een beeld van hem, lopend naar zijn zeilboot door het zand terwijl hij zijn tenen wiebelt tussen de korrels.

Ihde ontwikkelt een raar soort kritische houding naar de onmogelijkheid maar ook christelijke melancholie naar een tijd zonder technologie, naakt in de tuin van Eden. Terwijl die onmogelijk is, en het romantische beeld ervoor zorgt dat we technologie te vaak zien als de grote Vervreemder, besteed Ihde toch veel passages met beelden waarin hij in die tuin te vinden is.

Hoe dan ook, de kracht van zijn werk is de nuchtere, praktische, en fenomenologische blik op de mens-techniek relatie. In tegenstelling tot Heidegger, Ellul, Marcuse, etc. ziet hij technologie niet als een determinerend fenomeen dat ons willoos maakt en onderwerpt aan een logica van calculatie en controle. De vraag of 'de technologie' ons controleert, is niet de juiste, want dan komen we of bij Heidegger uit (ja, en we zijn gedoemd) of bij Zuckerberg (nee, en we zijn gezegend). In plaats daarvan pleit Ihde voor de positie dat technologieën ons vormen, en wij technologieën ook vormen.

Interessant is vooral het hoofdstuk waarin hij fenomenologische analyses geeft van hoe we technologie kunnen belichamen (wandelstok), het kunnen gebruiken als representatie van de wereld (thermometer), het zien als een ander (laptops), of het de achtergrond van onze ervaring textuur geeft (licht). Hier karakteriseert Ihde een spectrum van relaties waarin technologie transparant is in ons lichaam tot transparant is in de wereld. Het biedt tools om genuanceerd en praktisch te filosoferen over de rol die technologie heeft in onze 'vanzelfsprekende' ervaring van de wereld.

Het viel me op dat hij, ondanks de huidige kritieken op zijn filosofie, ruimte maakt voor een culturele hermeneutiek en daarnaast veel aandacht besteedt aan koloniale dimensies. Wel blijven de artefacten een raar soort ontologische middelstatus hebben tussen mens en wereld. Hoe is dat anders dan de bemiddeling van het lichaam, de ander, de cultuur? Het is opvallend te noemen dat Ihde zich in die zin niet of nauwelijks weerhoudt tot traditionele fenomenologen, maar ze slechts zijdelings noemt in stukken waar ze het vooral met hem eens lijken te zijn (naar zijn interpretatie).

[Zachary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ihde's philosophy is refreshingly easy to read, with a usually straightforward presentation of his ideas with some nice personal asides thrown in, even if those can sometimes be odd and maybe even a bit too personal. Here, Ihde takes on the project of describing how technology is changing the relationship between people and the earth itself, i.e. their relationships with science, nature, and the environment that supports both. To a large extent this may be seen as an environmentalist tract, but it's really far more subtle than that. Ihde points out that critique is not an inherently negative practice, but rather one that intends to bring both the positive and negative of a situation into balance if at all possible. I would say that Ihde accomplishes this rather well, for the most part. I could always go for more of his direct phenomenological explorations (as seen in Experimental Phenomenology and Bodies in Technology, for instance), but I appreciated this other insight into Ihde as a cultural philosopher as well.

[Toby Newton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a bit to be interested in. Ihde’s analysis is more far reaching when you remember that language, too, is a technology. With that in mind, his concern about technological affordances takes on a more pervasive significance.

[Viktor Krap · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fourth star is for its general importance within the field. The central part is the socalled ‘program one’, but i highly recommend to at least also read ‘program two’ on cultural hermeneutics

[mahatmanto · Rating 4 out of 5]

don ihde adalah seorang heideggerian.
ini perlu disebut dulu.
hampir semua tulisan dia [umumnya tentang teknologi dan ekologi] berkisar dari pemikiran heidegger. ini bertolak dari gagasan tentang 'techne' yang dilacak ulang oleh heidegger sehingga ketika gagasan dasar itu ditemukan maka gagasan dasar tadi jadi inspiratif, untuk melakukan kritik atas perkembangan teknologi modern serta konsekuensinya pada lingkungan hidup.
memang,
sumbernya dari esai pendek 'questions concerning technology' tapi, oleh ihde hal pendek tadi bisa ke mana-mana...he..he..
[lalu, siapa yang hebat nek gini ini?]

[Milo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the theories brought up here, but a handful of pretzels would have made him less dry. I also felt he had the tendency to beat a dead horse with his examples; just a switch of topic each chapter.

Though I must say he wanted to make sure his audience got him. It's always refreshing to see a philosopher actually try and reach out to his audience rather than think he's on an intellectual pedestal. He definitely brought up some stuff I had never dwelt upon before. That's always cool.

The book made me want to watch "2001: A Space Odyssey." So I did.