Langdon Winner Quotes

What do philosophers need to know about technology? I mean, of course, philosophers who want to think and write about technology in fruitful ways. What kind of knowledge do we need to have? And how much?

... the arrival of any new technology that has significant power and practical potential always brings with it a wave of visionary enthusiasm that anticipates the rise of a utopian social order. ... From the coming of the , to the introduction of the telegraph, , motion pictures, centrally generated electrical power, automobile, radio, television, nuclear power, , and the computer (to name just a few), this has been the recurring theme: celebrate! The moment of redemption is at hand.

... In of , spiritual and working life was divided into precise units of time, the , as a way to magnify the strength of the monks' religious devotion. This regimen gave rise to a need for devices that could measure time: hence the development of the first simple, reliable clocks.