Week Seven

Herbert Marcuse, "Some Social Implications of Modern Technology":

Marcuse's article discusses the difference between "individualistic rationality" and "modern rationality." The first he sees as based on autonomous self interest and involving a reason that is critical of the world itself, whereas the latter is heteronomous where the individual is concerned making it subject to compliance and its concern with efficiency makes criticism impossible. Technology dominates over man because man's identification with the apparatus means his autonomy is subsumed by it. Marcuse sees the individual as having becoming standardized and "technological truth" is concerned only with the good of the apparatus, rather than the individual (in contrast to "critical truth" which is autonomous and objective and, thus, antagonistic to the apparatus). Marcuse views critical truths that have been put forth as having been coopted by the apparatus, citing the labor movement, which emerged in opposition to business but quickly became a sort of business of its own, with its own vested interest in the apparatus. However, Marcuse still believes technology is ultimately necessary in the realization of a utopia where man is fully autonomous, in that technology allows a triumph of scarcity of resources and can be a democratizing agent, if it weren't for the subverting hierarchies of business.

Donna Haraway, "A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late 20th Century":

Read this article for another class last semester. Didn't really understand it then, don't really understand it now. Really hope we break it down in class...