Social Science Technology Studies
Rescuing Humanity
Transcending the Limits of Mathematics, Science, and Technology
- Publisher
- University of Toronto Press
- Initial publish date
- May 2023
- Category
- Technology Studies, Philosophy & Social Aspects, Religious
-
Hardback
- ISBN
- 9781487551100
- Publish Date
- May 2023
- List Price
- $99.00
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9781487552473
- Publish Date
- May 2023
- List Price
- $48.95
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9781487553708
- Publish Date
- May 2023
- List Price
- $48.95
Add it to your shelf
Where to buy it
Description
In Rescuing Humanity, Willem H. Vanderburg reminds us that we have relied on discipline-based approaches for human knowing, doing, and organizing for less than a century. During this brief period, these approaches have become responsible for both our spectacular successes and most of our social and environmental crises. At their roots is a cultural mutation that includes secular religious attitudes that veil the limits of these approaches, leading to their overvaluation. Because their use, especially in science and technology, is primarily built up with mathematics, living entities and systems can be dealt with only as if their "architecture" or "design" is based on the principle of non-contradiction, which is true only for non-living entities. This distortion explains our many crises.
Vanderburg begins to explore the limits of discipline-based approaches, which guides the way toward developing complementary ones capable of transcending these limits. It is no different from a carpenter going beyond the limits of his hammer by reaching for other tools. As we grapple with everything from the impacts of social media, the ongoing climate crisis, and divisive political ideologies, Rescuing Humanity reveals that our civilization must learn to do the equivalent if humans and other living things are to continue making earth a home.
About the author
Willem H. Vanderburg is a professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, where he was the founding director of the Centre for Technology and Social Development. He was a NATO post-doctoral fellow under Jacques Ellul from 1973 to 1978 at the University of Bordeaux.
Other titles by
Secular Nations under New Gods
Christianity's Subversion by Technology and Politics
Our Battle for the Human Spirit
Scientific Knowing, Technical Doing, and Daily Living
The Growth of Minds and Culture
A Unified Interpretation of the Structure of Human Experience, Second Edition
Living in the Labyrinth of Technology
On Being Rich and Poor
Christianity in a Time of Economic Globalization
Our War on Ourselves
Rethinking Science, Technology, and Economic Growth
On Freedom, Love, and Power
Christianity in a Time of Economic Globalization