Philosophy
and Ethics of Appropriate Technology
Course Syllabus
Fall Semester 2004
Faculty Coordinator: Dr. Charles Verharen
Contact: - [email protected]
Objective: The purpose of this course is to expose
students of different disciplines to the technology development process and how
it has been shaping our society. A
special attention is going to be given to ways in which individuals can
contribute to a positive change from different disciplines related to
technology.
Description: The course will cover topics of different disciplines including: The
Social Effects of Technology, Appropriate Technology, Philosophy of Technology,
Philosophy of Engineering, Engineering Ethics, and Community Service. The subject nature is extremely
interdisciplinary which makes it desirable to have a class of students with
diverse backgrounds and different areas of study. The interaction between students reacting to
the course material is one the most valuable outcome of the course.
Key Terms: Appropriate Technology,
Philosophy of Technology, Philosophy of Engineering, Engineering Ethics,
Good-Work Projects, Responsibility, Social Justice, Competition, Cooperation,
Education, Revolution.
Grading Method:
Attendance
/ Participation 20%
Short
Paper 20%
Final
Paper 60%
Written Paper 40%
Presentation 20%
------------------------------------------------------
Total
100%
Topic Outline:
WEEK 1 (Sept. 16):
Introduction to the course (Power Point Presentation)
Facilitated by: Tharakan/
Appropriate
Technology in general (definitions)
- Journey to Forever:
Appropriate Technology
http://journeytoforever.org/at.html
- What is Appropriate
Technology? http://www.gdrc.org/techtran/appro-tech.html
Philosophy
of Technology
- Presumed Neutrality of
Technology, by: Norman Balabanian [Controlling
Technology-Thompson pp.249-264]
- In Praise of
Technology, by: Samuel Florman [Controlling
Technology-Thompson pp.148-156]
Is
Technology Neutral?
- Google
Search: "Is Technology Neutral"
Current
Issues (for example)
- Biotechnology and
terrorism
- Teaching Online and
Virtual Education
What
Is Appropriate Technology?
WEEK 2 (Sept. 23):
Possible Paper Topics (Power Point Presentation)
Facilitated by: Tharakan/Schwartzman/Castro
Current
Appropriate Technology Projects (check web links)
Information
Technology
- Appropriate
Information Technology; Oxfam Community Aid Abroad
http://www.caa.org.au/groups/appropriate_IT/
- Appropriate
Information Technology Transfer; presented by Herbert Christ, materials
provided by Berthold Hansmann
Medical
and Health applications
- Program for
Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH)
http://www.path.org/
Energy
Systems
- renewable
energy; efficient energy use; electric and hybrid vehicles; the environment;
energy and environmental education; personal rights; and whistleblowing
(a personal homepage)
http://home.hawaii.rr.com/rezachek/index.html
-
Sustainable Energy Program (NCAT)
http://www.ncat.org/energy.html
Water and Sanitation
- International Water
Management Institute
Appropriate
Agriculture
- The Institute for Food
and Development Policy (Food First)
-
Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (NCAT)
Environmental issues
-
Waste Not; Chapter 3. of the book Natural
Capitalism; by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins,
and L. Hunter Lovins
http://www.natcap.org/images/other/NCchapter3.pdf
How
to Apply Technology?
WEEK 3 (Sept. 31):
Ethics as an Experimental Science (Power Point Presentation)
Facilitated by: Verharen
WEEK 4 (Oct. 7): Case
Study 1: Appropriate Technology in
Facilitated by: Trimble
WEEK 5 (Oct. 14):
Engineering Ethics and Appropriate Technology
Facilitated by: Broome
Study
Cases: Engineering Ethics
- Ford Pinto: Pinto Madness,
by: Mark Dowie (1977)
http://www.motherjones.com/mother_jones/SO77/dowie.html
- The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster
o
Engineering
Ethics Guide
http://ethics.tamu.edu/ethics/shuttle/shuttle1.htm
o
The Case
In Detail (essay)
http://onlineethics.org/essays/shuttle/abstract.html
- The Space Shuttle
http://www.aerospaceguide.net/spaceshuttle/columbia_disaster.html
o
Engineers
feared shuttle disaster By Ted Bridis, ASSOCIATED
PRESS
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20030227-7430368.htm
-
http://gurukulucc.american.edu/ted/BHOPAL.HTM
Study
Cases: The Ethics of Engineer
- The Ruination of the
Tomato, by: Mark Kramer, (1991) [Controlling Technology-Thompson pp. 131-141]
How
to Control Technology?
WEEK 5 (Oct. 21):
Appropriate Technology, Anthropology and the Environment
Facilitated by: Dahlin
WEEK 6 (Oct. 28):
Study Case 2: Appropriate Technology in
Facilitated by: Stephenson
Report Paper: (PDF Document) (Word Document)
Presentation: (Power Point Presentation)
WEEK 7 (Nov. 4): Local
and Global Appropriate Technology (HTML Presentation)
Facilitated by: Schwartzman
Readings for Global AT Class::
Solar Communism
(http://www.redandgreen.org/Documents/Solar_Communism.htm)
Another look at the end of the world
(http://www.redandgreen.org/Documents/Review%20of%20Kovel.htm)
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Ministerio de Ciencia Tecnología y Medio Ambiente
Ministry of Science Technology and the
Environment (
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimiento Científico y Tecnológico
National Council of Scientific and Technologic
Development (Brasil)
Instituto Colombiano para el Desarrollo de la Ciencia y la Tecnología
Colombian Institute for the Development of
Science and Technology (
Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología
National Council of Science and Technology (
Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología
National Council of Science and Technology
(México)
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
WEEK 8 (Nov. 11) Holiday
No Meeting
WEEK 9 (Nov. 18): Case Study: Automobile Technology and
Transportation The Integral
Approach to Technology
Facilitated by: Castro
WEEK 10 (Nov. 25) Holiday No Meeting
WEEK 11 (Dec. 2) Project Presentations
Facilitated by: Students
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OTHER RELATED TOPICS:
History and Philosophy
of Technology
History
of Science and Technology
- Google Search:
"brief History of Technology"
- Google Search:
"brief History of Science"
Philosophy
of Technoogy
- Authoritarian and
Democratic Technics, by: Lewis Mumford [Controlling Technology-Thompson
pp.371-378]
- COMPLEXITY, TRUST AND
TERROR, by:Langdon Winner (2002)
http://www.southerncrossreview.org/20/winner.htm
Philosophy
of Engineering
- The Importance of
Philosophy to Engineering, by Carl Mitcham (1998)
http://www.campus-oei.org/salactsi/teorema02.htm
Is
Technology Neutral?
Social Science and
History Relevance
Historical
reality of exploitation
UNDER-development
or WRONG-development
- Colonialism.
- Neocolonialism.
- Corruption.
- Political &
Economic Instability.
- Unequal Trade.
Development
Alternatives
Social
Justice Movement
The Integral Approach
to Technology
- A Roadmap for Natural Capitalism;
by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and L. Hunter Lovins
http://www.natcap.org/images/other/HBR-RMINatCap.pdf
- True Cost Economics
http://adbusters.org/metas/eco/truecosteconomics/
- Curriculum issues and controversies in computer ethics instruction;
by: Tavani, H.T.;
Technology and Society, 2001. Proceedings. International Symposium on ,
2001 Page(s): 41 -50
- Balancing technical and social issues: a new first-year design course;
by: Hallinan, K.; Daniels, M.; Safferman, S.;
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine , Volume: 20 Issue: 1 , Spring 2001
Page(s): 4 -14
- Applying an interdisciplinary approach to teaching computer ethics;
by: Tavani, H.T.;
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine , Volume: 21 Issue: 3 , Fall 2002
Page(s): 32 -38
Responsibility of
Engineers, and Technology Developers
- Distributability Problems and Challenges to the Future Resolution of
Responsibility Conflicts; by: HENS LENK,
Techné: Journal of the Society for Philosophy and Technology; Summer
1998 Volume 3 Number 4
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/SPT/v3_n4/pdf/LENK.PDF
REFERENCE BOOKS:
- CONTROLLING
TECHNOLOGY: Contemporary Issues;
edited by: Eric Katz,
Andrew Light, William Thompson, William B. Thompson
- Service-Learning in the
Disciplines: Projects that Matter, Concepts and Models for Service-Learning in
Engineering
edited by: Edmund
Tsang
http://www.aahe.org/service/chapters/engineering.htm
- Natural Capitalism:
Creating the Next Industrial Revolution;
by Paul Hawken, Amory
Lovins, and L. Hunter Lovins
- Sustainable
Agriculture and Resistance: Transforming Food Production in
Edited by: Fernando
Funes, Luis García, Martin Bourque, Nilda Pérez, and Peter Rosset
https://commerce12.pair.com/~pront011/Merchant2/related
- Small Is Beautiful:
Economics As If People Mattered
by: E. F. Schumacher
- Good Work
by: E. F. Schumacher,
and Peter N. Gillingham
- In the Absence of
the Sacred: The Failure of Technology and the Survival of the Indian Nations
by: Jerry Mander
- Paper Heroes:
Appropriate Technology: Panacea or Pipe Dream?
by: Witold Rybczynski
- Appropriate
Technology Sourcebook: A Guide to Practical Books for Village & Small
Community Technology
by:Ken Darrow and Mike
Saxenian
- Controlling
Technology: Ethics & Responsible Engineer;
by: Stephen H. Unger
WEBSITES:
Appropriate
National Center
Development Center for Appropriate
Technology
The Institute for Appropriate Technology
GOOD WORK: Project of the UIM in Finland
Philosophy of Technology
Society for Philosophy and
Technology
Techné: Journal of the Society for
Philosophy and Technology
Journal of Philosophy and Technology
International Institutions
Ministerio de Ciencia Tecnología y
Medio Ambiente
Ministry of Science Technology and the Environment (
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimiento
Científico y Tecnológico
National Council of Scientific and Technologic Development (Brasil)
Instituto
Colombiano para el Desarrollo de la Ciencia y la Tecnología
Colombian Institute for the Development of Science and Technology (Colombia)
Consejo
Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología
National Council of Science and Technology (El Salvador)
Consejo
Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología
National Council of Science and Technology (México)
Centre National de la Recherche
Scientifique
National Center of Scientific Research (
National
Institutions
National Science and Technology Council (USA)
Office of
Technology Assessment
NAE Committee on Engineering Education
The Center for the Advancement of
Scholarship on Engineering Education (CASEE)
controlling technology for the people’s
benefit