God Out of the Machine?: The Politics and Economics of Technological Development

Abstract

In this chapter we explore some of the most foundational questions to be asked of especially modern technologies, beginning with: (i) How do we best understand the forces driving technological development?In addition, we will take up the affiliated questions of whether (modern) technologies indeed lead to such core human goods as:(ii) greater appreciation of cultural diversity;(iii) greater economic equality -locally and globally;(iv) more equitable distribution of political power; and (v) greater likelihood of world peace?We will explore possible responses to these questions in two closely interrelated ways.One, we will begin with some of the most significant philosophical and religious frameworks that shape our understanding of modern and pre-modern technologies -in particular, as these define the central uses or goals of modern technology as allied with natural science and mathematics.Two, in conjunction with these frameworks we will further examine two prominent arenas or examples of contemporary technology -namely, Internet-facilitated communication (Part I) and social robots (Part II).These concrete examples serve as testbeds that will issue in very specific responses to our guiding questions.This approach offers several advantages.First, it foregrounds the critical ways in which modern technologies radically diverge from their ancestors.Most briefly, premodern science, mathematics, and allied technologies are oriented towards and hence justified by what we can think of as contemplative or explicitly Christian aims -most importantly, to help human beings better understand the natural order and its Creator, thus fostering a closer relationship with the Divine.Especially as articulated by Ren Descartes (1596-1650), however, modern technologies are explicitly oriented towards the goal of "mastery and possession of nature" -a mastery that entails a god-like status further enhanced by the specific goals of eliminating labor, the pains of old age, and perhaps even death (Discourse on Method, Part 6, 119).