Our War on Ourselves: Rethinking Science, Technology, and Economic Growth
© 2012
Our approach to knowing and doing is based on delegating physical phenomena to physicists, biological phenomena to biologists, social phenomena to sociologists, economic phenomena to economists, and so on. This approach to knowledge and practice works very well when one category of phenomena dominates (as in mechanical and technical systems), but does not work when many categories of phenomena make significant contributions (as in the biological and cultural spheres). As a result, our civilization succeeds in its scientific and technical endeavours yet fails in dealing with communities and ecosystems.
Following his groundbreaking Labyrinth of Technology and Living in the Labyrinth of Technology, Willem H. Vanderburg's Our War on Ourselves explores the type of war we have unleashed on our lives by emphasizing discipline-based processes. The work also illuminates how we can achieve a more balanced, livable, and sustainable future by combining technical and cultural perspectives in our educational and institutional settings.
Product Details
- World Rights
- Page Count: 400 pages
- Dimensions: 6.0in x 1.0in x 9.0in
-
Reviews
‘Astounding, urgent, and highly accessible, Our War on Ourselves takes its place rightly alongside other crucial texts about what it is to live (or try to) in our world. This greatly important book lays bare the many difficulties we face living in a society organized for, by, and around technology, then provides the solutions we will need if we want to regain our lives. Willem H. Vanderburg writes with the passion and clarity of the very best scholarship, bringing together deep insights on politics, economics, high technology, and spirituality in a manner that few writers can. Our War on Ourselves clearly represents an enormous investment of thought, care, and love for the world, and it will be read by professionals from all disciplines, as well as citizens who truly care about our planet and its inhabitants.‘
Tim Blackmore, Faculty of Information and Media Studies, University of Western Ontario
‘A major and highly original contribution to the social sciences, Our War on Ourselves is also important from an experiential standpoint. Using the best general theory of culture that we have, Willem H. Vanderburg tackles the most pressing existential problem of our time - the loss of meaning and the collapse of cultural unity. This book should appeal to all serious readers and everyone in academic life, especially those who have begun to question our terminal overspecialization.‘
Richard Stivers, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Illinois State University -
Author Information
Willem H. Vanderburg is the founding director of the Centre for Technology and Social Development and is now Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto.
-
Table of contents
CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction
A CIVILIZATION OF NON-SENSE?
Failure to Connect the Dots?
Science as Biased Knowing
Technology as Biased Doing
Opposing Biases
Some Consequences
Where Do We Go From Here?
How We Shall ProceedChapter 1
SYMBOLIZATION: GETTING IN TOUCH WITH OURSELVES AND THE WORLD
Living a Life
Babies Getting in Touch with Themselves and the World
Words as Signs
Language and Order
The Self and Cultural Order
The True and the Real
Myths and the True
The True, the Other, and MyselfChapter 2
DESYMBOLIZATION: LOSING TOUCH WITH OURSELVES AND THE WORLD
Undermining Symbolization
Television as an Introduction to What Is Real
Computers as the Playground of What Is Real
High School Science as the Imagination of What Is Real
The Emerging Order of What Is RealChapter 3
COLLIDING ORDERS AND THE TRIUMPH OF THE REAL
Re-engineering a Symbolic Species
The Emerging Technological Order
A Growing Dependence on Matter and Energy
The Emerging Economic Order
Desymbolizing the Cultural Order
Making the Collision LiveableChapter 4
Chapter 5
THE TRIUMPH OF THE TECHNICAL ORDER OVER CULTURAL ORDERS
Symbolization and Traditions
Desymbolization and Tradition-Based Knowing and Doing
Rationality within Culture
Technique within Culture
The Economy within the Technical Order
Possessed by New Myths
The University as a Bridgehead?
DESYMBOLIZATION AND RESYMBOLIZATION
Is Resymbolization Possible?
A Starting Point
Resymbolizing Economics
Resymbolizing the Social Sciences
Resymbolizing Engineering
Resymbolizing Management
Resymbolizing Medicine
Resymbolizing Legal Education
Community CollegesEpilogue: Power and Non-power
Notes
-
Subjects and Courses
