master in philosophy la salle campus barcelona

Master of Science in Philosophy and Contemporary Debates on Arts and Technology

Be a Contemporary Thinker: An oasis of reflection and freedom to think about today's world.

Philosophical debates about technology

Description
The course aims to reflect on technology in an active and shared way, based on texts by great contemporary thinkers and some of those of early modernity, who anticipate ideas that are still relevant today. It is not a question of approaching these authors in a specialized way, but of highlighting and thinking calmly about some of the main ideas that are linked to modern technology, participating in the debates that they have given rise to, often surprising and full of practical and intellectual suggestions. Technology is part of our daily individual and collective life, both personal and professional, although to different degrees depending on the different circumstances or professions. For this reason, it is increasingly essential to learn to see the reality of technological means with a certain distance that facilitates intellectual understanding, that opens unsuspected and barely visible horizons in everyday life, and that even helps to make decisions about the convenience or not of the multiple alternatives that these means constantly present to us in our private and social existence.
Type Subject
Primer - Obligatoria
Semester
First
Course
1
Credits
5.00

Titular Professors

Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy - La Salle URL
Previous Knowledge

Not required.

Objectives

a) The subject addresses the question of the essence of technology by presenting some particularly relevant authors and works. The aim is to highlight and explore the issues that they underlined in their meditation, taking them as far as possible.
b) Cultivating the contemplative dimension of thought is not the only objective of the course, but also to penetrate in a practical way into one of the central realities of the current world.
c) Reading, analysing, thinking, sharing and calmly debating some important texts on technology.
d) Highlighting and meditating on some key ideas about the reality of modern technology.
e) Opening the gap that makes personal reflection and intelligent, balanced decision-making possible.
f) Providing the student with the necessary tools to undertake independent research.

Contents

PHILOSOPHICAL DEBATES ON TECHNOLOGY. THE MYTHOLOGY OF THE MACHINE

PROF. CARLES LLINÀS

1. Introduction: a retrospective itinerary and some preliminary current readings.
2. Heidegger: The question about technology.
3. The interwar period: Jünger, Schmitt, Mumford, Ortega, Spengler.
4. Fyodorov: Philosophy of the common work.
5. Bacon: The Great Restoration.
6. Return to the 20th-21st century: Jacques Ellul and Michel Henry, among others.

Methodology

The teaching methodology of the subject will combine explanations by the teacher, shared and commented reading of texts, and debates between participants. Specifically:

Work in the classroom:
- Lectures. Lectures refer to the presentation by the teacher of the theoretical contents of the subject, the orientation of the students on basic and advanced readings, as well as on complementary sources of information and the establishment of guidelines and keys for carrying out theoretical-practical tasks.
- Group debates: Based on the topics covered and the texts discussed in class, debates will be promoted that will be taken into account for the evaluation of the students.
- Continuous assessment. Assessment is an integrated part of the teaching-learning process. In this subject, continuous assessment will be carried out that will combine the delivery of a summary of the course topics with debates and text comments in the classroom and a written test at the end of the period.
Work or activities outside the classroom:
- Independent work by students. The students' independent work consists, on the one hand, of reading selected materials and texts and of personally creating summaries, diagrams, conceptual maps, etc. based on them.
- Tutorials. All students will have the possibility of requesting individual or group tutorials, by appointment, from the teacher. These tutorials may be aimed at resolving doubts about both content and method.

Evaluation

Ordinary session: In order to be assessed in the ordinary session, all the activities subject to assessment must have been completed. The assessable activities must be handed in on the dates indicated by the teacher. If an activity subject to assessment has not been handed in or completed, it will be recorded in the minutes as "Not submitted" in the session.

Extraordinary session: The assessment criteria are the same as in the ordinary session, so all the assessment activities considered in the course must be submitted. The grades for the activities completed will be kept, pending the completion of the pending activities. In this evaluation, the same weighting criteria will be applied as in the ordinary evaluation.

Evaluation Criteria

1. Portfolio: at the end of the period, a summary of the course must be submitted in the form of a paper, which must be written from the notes and class notes. Six, seven or eight DIN-A-4 pages, one for each topic-author that we have explained (a final list of exam authors will be provided), Times New Roman 12, single-spaced. 30%
2. Final written test: a text commentary with questions of various types, based on the commentary practice that has been worked on in class. The summary work of the notes from the previous point may be brought. 50%.
3. Attendance and participation: attendance to the entire course guarantees one point. 0.1 is lost for each unjustified absence. Another point will depend on participation in class, especially in the text commentary exercises that are done and in the debates that take place. Total: 20%.

Use of AI tools: If AI tools are used in any assignment, a paragraph must be included indicating why AI has been used and what indications have been used to obtain the results. Failure to do so is a violation of academic honesty policies.

Basic Bibliography

Francis Bacon, La Gran Restauración (Novum Organum) (1620), Madrid: Tecnos 2011.
Jacques ELLUL, La Edad de la Técnica (1954), Barcelona: Octaedro 2003.
Nikolaï FIODOROV, Philosophie de l’œuvre comune (1906-1913), Genève: Éditions des Syrtes 2021.
Martin HEIDEGGER, La pregunta por la técnica (1954), Barcelona: Herder 2021.
Michel HENRY, La Barbarie (1987), Madrid: Caparrós 1996.
Ernst JÜNGER, La movilización total (1930), en el vol. Sobre el dolor, seguido de…, Barcelona: Tusquets 1995.
Carl MITCHAM, ¿Qué es la filosofía de la tecnología?, Barcelona: Anthropos 1989.
Lewis MUMFORD, Técnica y civilización (1934), Logroño: Pepitas de calabaza 2020.
José ORTEGA Y GASSET, Meditación de la técnica (1935). Ensimismamiento y alteración, Madrid: Biblioteca Nueva 2015.
Carl SCHMITT, La época de las neutralizaciones y las despolitizaciones (1929), en El concepto de lo político, Madrid: Alianza 2024.
Oswald SPENGLER, El hombre y la técnica (1931) y otros ensayos, Madrid: Espasa-Calpe 1967.

Additional Material

José María ATENCIA, Ortega y Gasset, meditador de la técnica, “Argumentos de Razón Técnica” 6 (2003) 61-95.
José María ATENCIA, Ortega, Spengler y el problema de la técnica, “Contrastes. Revista Internacional de Filosofía” XXI/1 (2016) 7-32.
Antonio DIÉGUEZ, La filosofía de la técnica de Ortega como guía para la acción, “Revista Internacional de Tecnología, Conocimiento y Sociedad” 2/1 (2013), 73-97.
Antonio DIÉGUEZ y Javier ZAMORA, Introducción a J. Ortega y Gasset, Meditación de la técnica…,
Jacques ELLUL, Le Système technicien (1977), Paris: Le cherche midi 2012.
Jacques ELLUL, Le bluff technologique (1988), Paris: Arthème Fayard/Pluriel 2017.
Josep M. ESQUIROL, Los filósofos contemporáneos y la técnica. De Ortega a Sloterdijk, Barcelona: Gedisa 2011.
Albert FLORENSA, La vida humana en el medi tècnic: el pensament de Jacques Ellul, Barcelona: Claret 2010.
Nikolaï FIODOROV, Correspondance (1873-1903), Genève: Éditions des Syrtes 2021.
Boris GROYS (comp.), Cosmismo ruso. Tecnologías de la inmortalidad antes y después de la Revolución de octubre, Buenos Aires: Caja negra 2021.
Jürgen HABERMAS, Ciencia y técnica como “ideología”, Madrid: Tecnos 2017.
Martin HEIDEGGER, Die Technik und die Kehre (1962), Pfullingen: Günter Neske 1991.
Martin HEIDEGGER, Tiempo y ser, Madrid: Tecnos 2013.
Martin HEIDEGGER, La vuelta (Die Kehre), “Revista de Filosofía” 31-32 (1988), 109-116.
Martin HEIDEGGER, Para abordar la pregunta por la determinación del asunto del pensar, “Mapocho” 45 (1999), 109-117.
Edmund HUSSERL, La crisis de las ciencias europeas y la fenomenología trascendental, Barcelona: Crítica, 1990.
Ernst JÜNGER, Los titanes venideros. Ideario último recogido por A. Gnoli i F. Volpi, Barcelona: Página Indómita 2016.
Friedrich Georg JÜNGER, La perfección de la técnica (1944), Barcelona: Página Indómita 2016.
Lewis MUMFORD, El mito de la máquina. Técnica y evolución humana (1967), Logroño: Pepitas de calabaza 2017.
Lewis MUMFORD, El pentágono del poder. El mito de la máquina (dos) (1970), Logroño: Pepitas de calabaza 2016.
David F. NOBLE, The religion of technology: the divinity of man and the spirit of invention, New York: Alfred A. Knopf 1997.
José ORTEGA Y GASSET, La rebelión de las masas y otros ensayos, Madrid: Alianza 2022.
Pietro PIRO, Dos meditaciones sobre la técnica: “El hombre y la técnica” de Oswald Spengler y “Meditación sobre la técnica” de Ortega y Gasset, “Revista Laguna” 32 (2013), 43-58.
Karl R. POPPER, Sobre las fuentes del conocimiento y de la ignorancia, en Conjeturas y refutaciones, Barcelona: Paidós 1983.