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Books

Kierkegaard and the Question Concerning Technology by Christopher Barnett

Michael Strawser questions Kierkegaard about technology.

What does the father of existentialism have to teach us about how to think about Google? How should we authentically view the freedom of the press and the problem of fake news? How does one meaningfully relate to existence in the age of information? Christopher Barnett provides answers to these and many other intriguing questions about how we should consider our relationship to technology in light of the writings of Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855). His study is clear, engaging, and timely, and demonstrates not only a firm command of Kierkegaard’s work in its original Danish, but also deep knowledge of the related philosophical and theological traditions.

The tradition particularily relevant to this work is of course the philosophy of technology. Barnett opens with an overview of it, and highlights an important distinction between an ‘engineering philosophy of technology’ and a ‘humanities philosophy of technology’. The latter involves the attempt to reflect critically on the effects of technology on human existence.

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