Technology and Anarchy: A Reading of Our Era(Postphenomenology and the Philosophy of Technology)

In Technology and Anarchy: A Reading of Our Era, Simona Chiodo argues that our technological era can be read as the most radical form of anarchism ever experienced. People are not only removing the role of the expert as a mediator, but also trying, for the first time in history, to replace the role of a transcendent god itself by creating, especially through information technology, a totally immanent technological entity characterized by the typical ontological prerogatives of the divine: omnipresence (by being everywhere), omniscience (by knowing everything, especially about us), omnipotence (by having power, especially over us), and inscrutability. Chiodo proposes a novel view of our technological era by reading it as the last step of a precise trajectory of Western thought, i.e. as the most radical form of anarchism we have ever experienced, due to the crisis of the founding epistemological relationship between ideality and reality. By doing this, Chiodo helps fill the gap between technological innovation and the humanities, which is becoming an emerging research goal that is more and more urgent in order to face the greatest challenges of our present and future.

Table of Contents:
Contents Introduction 1.The Evolution of Prometheus, From Past to Present to Future 2.Homo Anarchicus 3.Reading Our Technological Era 4.Radical Externalisation 5.Farewell to Humans? 6.The Most Radical Form of Anarchism We Have Ever Experienced Conclusion References

About the Author :
Simona Chiodo is professor of philosophy at the Politecnico di Milano.

Review :
An original interpretation of Western technological culture, based on the idea that we use technology to evade individual responsibility: we install an immanent divine to externalize epistemological and ethical decisions and create a technological scapegoat. After engaging with the myth of Prometheus and other literature, Chiodo argues that this 'anarchistic' move is a continuation of a history of giving away control of reality to logos, which we have now narrowed down to computation and its externalization in algorithmic machines. Compulsory reading for anyone interested in understanding our technological era. In a time when algorithms determine more and more in our everyday lives, we need to reflect on what role technology should have in our societies. Professor Chiodo does so in a fascinating and inspiring way, making efficient use of ancient myths and literary classics. Prometheus has much more to do with healthcare algorithms than what one would think before reading this book.