ABSTRACT

What are the chief challenges posed to contemporary democracy by modern technology, and how can democratic theory best respond to, or at least reflect on, those challenges? Inhabiting the kind of technologically advanced era in which we live, what sources are available within political theory for theoretical insight concerning the problem of democratic engagement with technology? The purpose of this volume is to canvas a broad range of theorists and theoretical traditions in order to address these questions, including Hegel and Marx, Rousseau and John Dewey, Heidegger and Simone Weil, Habermas and Walter Benjamin, Hannah Arendt and Hans Jonas. Commentaries on all these important thinkers -- focused on the issue of contemporary technology as posing unique social and political challenges for democratic political life -- yields rich and ambitious resources for theoretical reflection.

part 1|122 pages

The Regin of Techine

chapter |34 pages

Political Imagination in a Technical Age*

ByWillem H. Vanderburg

chapter |19 pages

Marx and Lukacs on Technology and the "Value" of Freedom

ByRichard B. Day

chapter |35 pages

Languages, Techniques, Rationalities

ByDusan Pokorny

chapter |23 pages

Shades of Optimism: Soviet Views on Science and Morality

ByLÁszló G. JobbÁgy

part II|126 pages

Prospects for Democracy

chapter |26 pages

Liberal Democracy and the Problem of Technology

ByJerry Weinberger

chapter |19 pages

Anarchism and Technology

ByFrank Harrison

chapter |20 pages

Hegel and Marx: Perspectives on Politics and Technology

ByRichard B. Day

chapter |23 pages

Political Technology, Democracy and Education: John Dewey's Legacy

ByFrank J. Kurtz

chapter |22 pages

Dahl, Democracy, and Technology

ByH.D. Forbes

part III|106 pages

Pondering Our Destiny

chapter |21 pages

Politics and Progress in Heidegger’s Philosophy of History

ByW.R. Newell

chapter |9 pages

Fire Alarm: Walter Benjamin’s Critique of Technology

ByMichael Lôwy

chapter |17 pages

George Grant on Technological Imperatives

ByEdward Andrew

chapter |20 pages

Action into Nature: Hannah Arendt’s Reflections on Technology

ByBarry Cooper

chapter |19 pages

Ethics and Technology: Hans Jonas’ theory Of Responsibility

ByRonald Beiner