Balancing Sustainable Development: Philosophy of Technology and Aesthetic Evaluation
Date
2009
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Producer
Director
Performer
Choreographer
Costume Designer
Music
Videographer
Lighting Designer
Set Designer
Crew Member
Funder
Rehearsal Director
Concert Coordinator
Moderator
Panelist
Alternative Title
Department
Haverford College. Department of Philosophy
Type
Thesis
Original Format
Running Time
File Format
Place of Publication
Date Span
Copyright Date
Award
Language
eng
Note
Table of Contents
Terms of Use
Rights Holder
Access Restrictions
Open Access
Terms of Use
Tripod URL
Identifier
Abstract
My thesis is an attempt to explain the imbalanced and incomplete modes of thinking in the modern consciousness that I find to be responsible for humanity's collective irrational and violent destruction of the global environment. I argue that the environment is a direct material extension of human identities and its destruction is evidence of unbalanced behavior and thinking in need of rehabilitation. Furthermore, the discourse of sustainable development fails to provide an adequate alternative to the destructiveness of the modern consciousness. My thesis draws on three distinct traditions of thought to attempt to analyze the imbalance and propose an alternate mode of thinking: Albert Borgmann's "device paradigm," Martin Heidegger's "supreme danger" of modern technology, and David Hall and Roger Ames' "aesthetic cosmology" reading of the classical Taoist texts. The device paradigm highlights the important role of technology in distracting us from the destruction that has become so unavoidable and innocuous in the modern lifestyle. Heidegger's complex analysis of technology provides a foundation for understanding its power for salvation as well as destruction and distraction. Hall and Ames' readings of Taoism provide an example of an alternate mode of thinking that could potentially rehabilitate the imbalances endemic to the modern consciousness that cause us to be destructive. I am aware of and wary of the breadth and ambition of my thesis topic. This has not deterred me or distracted me from writing it, and I have found the process to be helpful in solidifying, clarifying, and justifying my philosophical explorations up to this point.