[Hi all, this may be of interest to some folks ... John.]
=================================================
From: Arun-Kumar Tripathi [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Sunday, April 01, 2001 4:15 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Cc: Prof. Albert Borgmann
Subject: Eric Higgs and others on Professor Albert Borgmann


Dear Professor John Armitage,

A new book from Higgs, Eric, Andrew Light, and David Strong, editors
Technology and the Good Life?. 384 p. 2000 on the board. ((Cloth $65.00tx
0-226-33386-8, Paper $25.00tx 0-226-33387-6)) from University of Chicago
Press.

The books discussed the qeustions such as Can we use technology in the
pursuit of a good life, or are we doomed to having our lives organized and
our priorities set by the demands of machines and systems? How can
philosophy help us to make technology a servant rather than a master?

Technology and the Good Life? uses a careful collective analysis of Albert
Borgmann's controversial (which I think the authors cann't understand, see
below my reasons)  and influential ideas as a jumping-off point from which
to address questions such as these about the role and significance of
technology in our lives.

Contributors to the book both sympathetic and critical examine Borgmann's
work, especially his "device paradigm"; apply his theories to new areas
such as film, agriculture, design, and ecological restoration; and
consider the place of his thought within philosophy and technology studies
more generally.

[PS: Because this collection carefully investigates the issues at the
heart of how we can take charge of life with technology, it will be a
landmark work not just for philosophers of technology but for students and
scholars in the many disciplines concerned with science and technology
studies.]

In the book of Richard Buchanan _Discovering Design: Explorations in
Design Studies_, Professor Albert Borgmann, has also contributed a chapter
on "The Depth of Design."

In the article, Albert Borgmann argues that the province of design is the
world of engagement, "the symmetry that links humanity and reality." In
his opinion, engagement is declining in the aesthetics of contemporary
life, partly as a result of the growing rift between design and
engineering. In this system of product creation, engineers focus
exclusively on the underlying mechanisms of a product, attempting to
improve its functionality and ease of use while shifting away from user
engagement at the cost of deskilling the consumer in the use of such
products. Conversely, the designer is reduced to producing an aesthetic
design that focuses exclusively on a superficial smoothing and styling of
the underlying mechanism. Borgmann sees designers as the principle
component of humanity's common memory, the trustees and conservators of
common values, and the innovators of the exploration and expression of
engagement. For a designer to delve only in the superficial is to create a
thin gloss that is a poor substitute for the common memory which it has
replaced. Rather design must once more fuse engineering and aesthetics to
provide the "material setting that provokes and rewards engagement."

One salient quote from the book:-- Design, taken as an objective quality,
needs design as a professional practice because the quality of the
material culture urgently needs the care and advocacy of professionals.
Design as a practice needs design as an object because designers as
professionals appear to suffer from an uncertain sense of identity that
would be firmed up through the focus on excellence of the material
environment. [p. 14]

It is always worth to read Albert Borgmann on Technological Paradigm.

With regards,
Arun Tripathi

************************************************************************************
Distributed through Cyber-Society-Live [CSL]: CSL is a moderated discussion
list made up of people who are interested in the interdisciplinary academic
study of Cyber Society in all its manifestations.To join the list please visit:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/cyber-society-live.html
*************************************************************************************