Volume 24, Number 3 (Autumn 2000)
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Message From The President
Dear SPT members,
I hope this issue of the newsletter finds you off to a good start on the fall!
In this issue, you will find information on many activities that are being planned for this year. In particular we have special sessions at the Eastern and Pacific Division meetings of theAPA and our biennial conference in July in Aberdeen. You’ll notice that the APA sessions have the same theme as the Aberdeen conference. Our hope was to get people thinking about the topic as we move closer to theconference.
You’ll notice that Andrew Light has extendedthe deadline for submissions for the Aberdeen conference, and I hope asmany of you as possible will submit something. The Aberdeen venue promisesto be extremely nice and our meetings in Europe are especially nice becausethey give us the opportunity to interact with so many Europeancolleagues!
My focus for the next year will be onincreasing the membership of the Society. Please pay your dues if youhaven’t already done so, and please tell your colleagues about theSociety, and ask them to join. Joining is now easier than ever in thesense that you can simply go to our website and download the membershipform. As you all know, the membership dues are incredibly low so low thatit might be more efficient for you to pay them for several years inadvance.
Best Wishes,
Deborah
SECOND CALL FORPAPERS
Note new submissiondeadline and address for submissions, below
12th BIENNIEL INTERNATIONALCONFERENCE OF THE SOCIETY FOR PHILOSOPHY ANDTECHNOLOGY
July 9th-11th 2001
University of Aberdeen
Aberdeen, ScotlandConference Theme: “Nature andTechnology”
The Society for Philosophy and Technology hassponsored conferences on philosophical aspects of technology since the late1970s. Current conferences are held every other year, rotating betweenNorth America and Europe. The Society welcomes a broad range of papersfrom various philosophical perspectives and schools.
Our next conference will focus on the growingset of epistemological, moral, social, political and conceptual problemsrelated to the juncture of, broadly speaking, nature and technology.Historical and contemporary issues will be addressed with preference givenonly to the clearest analysis of the stated problem.
Papers are invited on any topic relevant to theconference theme or to philosophical considerations of technology ingeneral. Specific conference sub-themes include:
+ Moral and Conceptual Implications of GeneticModification
+ Environment, Technology, andDevelopment
+ Biotechnology in Medicine and EnvironmentalScience
+ High Technology and the Boundary of Natureand Nurture
+ The Concepts of Nature and Artifact in theHistory of Philosophy
+ Relationships between Philosophy ofTechnology and Philosophy of Natural
Science
+ Conceptual Foundations of the History ofNatural Science and Technology
Keynote Speakers:
Stephen Clark, University ofLiverpool
“From Biosphere to Technosphere - What willit be like to inhabit a world designed by people?”
Gordon Graham, University of Aberdeen:“Playing God: Is genetic technology in danger of crossingfundamental boundaries?”
Deborah Johnson, Georgia Institute ofTechnology Nature and Information Technology: The Convergence of STS andIT Policy”
Janet Radcliffe Richards, University CollegeLondon: “Darwinism, Nature and Technology”
Program Coordinator: Andrew Light, AssistantProfessor of Environmental Philosophy, and Director, EnvironmentalConservation Education Program, New York University
Conference Coordinator: Gordon Graham, RegiusProfessor of Moral Philosophy, University of Aberdeen.
Two-page (max.) abstracts should be submittedby November 15th 2000 by post, fax, or e-mail. Notification of abstractacceptance by February 15th 2001. Proposals for full sessions alsowelcome, please include abstracts for all papers to be included insessions.
All abstracts will be peer refereed and mostaccepted papers will be assigned a commentator. Please also let us know ifyou would like to only serve as a commentator.
SEND ABSTRACTS TO:
Andrew Light, SPT Conference
Environmental Conservation Education Program
246 Greene Street, Suite 300
New York University
New York, NY 10003
USAfax: 212-995-4832
e-mail: andrew.light@nyu.eduPlease also include an e-mail address with yoursubmission where you can be contacted.
If you cannot meet the November 15 deadlinefor abstracts contact Andrew Light to inquire about a latesubmission.
Check the SPT website (www.spt.org) forconference updates.
This Society for Philosophy and Technologyconference is sponsored by the Department of Philosophy, University ofAberdeen and the University of Aberdeen Centre for Philosophy, Technology,& Society.
Selected papers from the conference will havethe option of being published in Techné, the Journal ofthe Society for Philosophy and Technology, edited byProfessor Davis Baird, Department of Philosophy, University of SouthCarolina.
New Venue for SPT 2001:Aberdeen
Andrew Light
SPT Vice-President
In mid-March, the SPT board voted unanimously,at the behest of myself and SPT President Deborah Johnson, to move thevenue of our 2001 international conference to Aberdeen, Scotland.Previously, it had been announced internally in the Society that themeeting would take place in Edinburgh. What follows is a brief explanationof the decision to change venue.
Organizing conferences of the size we hope tosee in Scotland is a difficult task. It is one thing to arrange for aprogram which will be of interest to the membership, and those we wouldlike to draw into the Society; it is quite another to make the localarrangements which will insure that the conference runs smoothly. Afterconsidering at length some changes to the on site program committee inEdinburgh (one of the principle local co-organizers had unfortunately takenill and would no longer be able to help with the planning) Deborah and Ibegan to consider alternatives. Quite independently, and fortuitously,Gordon Graham, Regius Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University ofAberdeen, and Director of the University of Aberdeen Centre for Philosophy,Technology and Society, came forward and offered Aberdeen as a new hostsite for the conference. After further investigation, it seemed that themove to Aberdeen would be ideal – it not only allowed us to stay inScotland, but also to work directly with one of the topdepartments of philosophy in the U.K. on the conference (see details aboutthe history of work in philosophy at Aberdeen at the end of the call forpapers for the conference in the previous issue of the Newsletter). In addition, we also considered thefollowing:
+ The Centre and the Aberdeen PhilosophyDepartment have successfully hosted several recent internationalconferences. The most recent are the CPTS International Conference onEthics, Development and Technology in 1996 and the First International ReidSymposium in 1998. There are two major conferences forthcoming – TheGifford Bequest International Conference on Natural Theology (May 2000) andthe 2nd Reid International Symposium (July 2000). Graham has received theenthusiastic support of the Aberdeen philosophy department to host ourmeeting with the Centre which will insure us a secure berth at the sitemaking scheduling, etc., much easier to deal with.
+ Graham, in addition to holding the RegiusProfessorship, is well known in UK philosophy circles as a prolific authorof high quality analytic work in metaphysics and moral philosophy and issecretary of the Scotts Philosophical Society (publisher ofPhilosophical Studies). He also edits theCentre’s newsletter Ends and Means whichacts essentially as a journal on philosophy and technology, regularlypublishing scholarly articles. Graham is becoming more well known inphilosophy of technology, recently publishing, TheInternet: A Philosophical Inquiry (Routledge, 1999) andpresented a paper at our San Jose conference last August.
+ Because membership in the SPT is at an alltime low (under 50 now according to our secretary’s last report) andbecause interest in the Society seems to be dwindling in the philosophycommunity, we desperately need not only a successful gala conference, butalso one that is well integrated in the philosophy world. We have here arare opportunity to host a major international conference with one of theUK’s most respected philosophy departments and figures in philosophycircles. Deborah and I felt that this might result in higher participationrates from the philosophical community in the UK and from North Americanphilosophers who have not previously attended our meetings. In contrastour previous plans at Edinburgh were to organize the conference with anindependent interdisciplinary research center which was not formallyconnected with the University of Edinburgh, and which exists largelyoutside of traditional philosophical venues in the UK.
If any of the membership wishes to inquirefurther about this change of venue, please do not hesitate to contact meby e-mail (andrew.light@nyu.edu). I hope to see you all in Aberdeen!Please help us by circulating the call for papers for the meeting to otherswho you think may find it of interest.
CALL FOR PAPERS:
SOCIETY FOR PHILOSOPHYAND TECHNOLOGY GROUP SESSION AT THE APA/PACIFIC DIVISION MEETING IN SANFRANCISCO, 29 MARCH TO 1 APRIL 2001
The Society for Philosophy and Technologyannounces the following session for the 2001 Pacific Division AmericanPhilosophical Association Meeting: “Technology andNature.”
Abstracts are invited on any subject relatingto the general theme of “Technology and Nature,” including work onbiotechnology, environmental and development issues, genetic engineering inbiology and agriculture, or other related themes. All philosophicalviewpoints are welcome.
The theme for this session is the same as thetheme for the SPT’s upcoming 2th Biennial International Conference,which will be held in Aberdeen, Scotland 9 to 11 July 2001. Papers for thePacific Division Meeting may also be submitted to the Aberdeen conference.For information on the Aberdeen conference, contact Andrew Light at thefollowing email address. andrew.light@nyu.edu
Abstract Deadline for the Pacific DivisionMeeting: 15 October 2000, with notification by 1 November 2000. All finalpapers for the group session may
be considered for Techné, SPT’s journal.
Send abstracts to:
Noam Cook
Department of Philosophy
San Jose State University
San Jose, CA 95192
SPT at the APA/EasternDivision
SPT is sponsoring two, two-hour sessions at theAPA Eastern Division Meetings in New York City:
SESSION I: Thursday, December 28, Group SessionV: 5:15-7:15 pm
Topic: Nature and Technology I: Author meetscritics: Beneath the
Surface: Critical Essays on the Philosophy ofDeep Ecology (MIT), eds. E.
Katz, A. Light & D.
Rothenberg
Chair: Deborah G. Johnson
Speakers:
Eric Katz, New Jersey Institute ofTechnology
David Keller, Utah Valley StateCollege
Deborah Johnson, Georgia Institute ofTechnology
Andrew McLaughlin, Lehman College, CityUniversity of New York
David Rothenberg, New Jersey Institute ofTechnology
SESSION II: Friday, December 29, Group SessionVIII, 11:15 a.m. 1:15 p.m.
Topic: Nature and Technology II: Panel onNature and Virtuality
Chair: Deborah G. Johnson
Speakers:
Babak Razzaghe Ashrafi, Massachusetts Instituteof Technology
Deborah G. Johnson, Georgia Institute ofTechnology
Diane P. Michelfelder, Utah State University
Eric Steinhart, William PatersonUniversity
Techné Update:
Papers from SPT99 in San José: In the lastNewsletter I noted that two issues of volume 5 of Techné will be devoted to papers from SPT99 in SanJosé. These issues are still in production. But, both will be publishedby the end of 2000. This puts us about a year behind the nominal schedule.However, given the number of submissions to the journal, this is perhapsnot a disaster.
Submission Crisis: Since my last update to the Newsletter, there have been no submissionsto the journal. I repeat what I said in my last Newsletter update. Thisjournal will not thrive with this frequency of submissions.Techné is your journal. That is, it isthe journal for the Society. If you want a healthy Society and Journal, youneed to submit your work. Please send your papers to me either by email orby snail mail.
Paper Publishing: Negotiations currently areunderway with Seven Bridges Press to take Technéto paper format. Likely we will change the frequency totwice a year (unless the frequency of submissions changes even moreradically than I am hoping it will change). We will add a book reviewsection and a section for longer review essays. Details about cost have yetto be determined, but I am confident that the cost of the Journal will bequite reasonable. Seven Bridges will take on a lot of the marketing andproduction details and this should help get word more generally broadcastthat there is a journal devoted to the philosophy of technology.
Future Projects: Paul Durbin is editing aseries of papers focused on Joe Pitt’s new book, Thinking about Technology. These are taken fromcontributions to the SPT Author meets Critics session at the Central APA. Iam still interested in having Techné do an issue on some aspect ofbiotechnology and another on some aspect of the internet. If anyone isinterested in serving as a guest editor to put such an issue together, orin some other interesting project, please let me know.
Your Journal: I close with the same remarks Iclosed my last Techné update:Techné is your journal. If you share mybelief in the importance of philosophical reflection on technology, youshould be sending your papers to Techné and encouraging your friends with like interests to do likewise. Some ofyou have expressed concerns both over the quality of the journal and overthe relative merit of an electronic journal. I understand these concerns,but the basic fact remains that Techné will be a high quality electronic or paperjournal when it is used as a primary means to communicate philosophicalwork devote to technology. It is up to the current and future members ofthe Society to use it as such. Techné isfor you.
Davis Baird
Department of Philosophy
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC, 29208
db@sc.edu
From The Editors
It is with some conflict that I inform you thatthis issue marks the end of Andrew Garnar’s service to the Society asAssociate Editor of the Newsletter.Andrew, a PhD. Student in Virginia Tech’s STS program, is now workingon his dissertation, and needs to devote all of his time to that project.Andrew has done a superior job as Associate Editor – meaning by that hehas gotten us onto a regular schedule, he keeps me on some sort of shortleash, and he has sought to make the Newsletter more useful to themembership. He will be missed.
Taking over as Associate Editor is Ben Cohen,another graduate student in the STS Program at Virginia Tech. Ben comes tous with a background in engineering and an interest in the recasting theTwo Cultures debate in the light of recent contributions in STS. I lookforward to working with him and continuing improvement of the quality ofthe Society’s publications.
Please send us your news, your editorialcomments, book reviews, and other issues of interest.
Announcements
+ Andrew Light has beenappointed Assistant Professor of Environmental Philosophy, and Director ofthe graduate program in Environmental Conservation Education, at New YorkUniversity. The program currently has a terminal MA in environmentalstudies (established by Millard Clements and Tom Colwell), drawing studentsprimarily from the major environmental NGOs and government organizations inthe New York City area. Light’s mandate is to investigate the creationof a Ph.D. component for the program (with additional hires) inenviromental ethics or applied ethics. Editorial offices for the journalPhilosophy and Geography, will go withLight to NYU. Light’s new address is: Environmental ConservationEducation Program,
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences inthe Professions, New York University, 246 Greene Street, Suite 300, NewYork, NY 10003. Phone: 212-998-5636. Fax: 212-995-4832. E-mail:andrew.light@nyu.edu. Philosophy &Geography phone: 212-998-5633.
SUNY Binghamton plans to search for areplacement for Light in environmental ethics during the 2000-2001 academicyear.
+ The Philosophy Section of theDelft University of Technology is pleased to announce that the NetherlandsOrganisation for Scientific Research (NWO) has approved the researchprogram ‘The Dual Nature of Technical Artifacts’. The program,supervised by Professors Peter Kroes and Anthonie Meijers, centers on thenotions of ‘design’ and ‘technical function’ in order to studythe ontology and epistemology of artifacts, an important category ofobjects that has almost escaped philosophical attention. Four researchers,two post-docs and two Ph.D. students (one yet to be appointed), will workexclusively on aspects of the program, which is funded until 2004.International cooperation is a vital part of the program. A fulldescription, as well as information on the participants and the remainingjob opening, can be found on the section’s website:www.fil.tbm.tudelft.nl, under the heading ‘ResearchProjects’.
+ The Editors of theNewsletter are pleased to announce that thefollowing papers presented at SPT99 will appear in the journalEthics and Information Technology (Vol. II,No. 3):
Diane P. Michelfelder: “Our Moral Conditionin Cyberspace”
Thomas C. Anderson: “The Body andCommunities in Cyberspace: a Marcellian Analysis”
Joseph Westfall: “ What is Cyberwoman?: TheSecond Sex in Cyberspace”
Brian T. Prosser and Andrew Ward:“Kierkegaard and the Internet: Existential Reflections on Education andCommunity”
Jason W. Patton: “Protecting Privacy inPublic? Surveillance Technologies and the Value of PublicPlaces”
Conferences and Calls forPapers
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine:Special Issue September 2001, Engineering Ethics: Continuing and EmergingIssues. Interest in engineering ethics grew rapidly in thelast half of the 20th century as thescope and magnitude of the social implications of technology and theprofessional and ethical responsibilities of engineers became moreapparent. Over the past two decades, engineering ethics developed into anestablished interdisciplinary academic field, including healthy debatesover theory and methods. As IEEE Technology and Society Magazine concludesits twentieth year of publication, it is appropriate to take stock ofdevelopments in engineering ethics over the past two decades and consideremerging ethical issues at the beginning of the 21st century. Submissionsare invited on such topics as: Engineering ethics and“globalization”, Role of professional ethics in research ethics,Technology, ethics, and healthcare, Relevance of ethics in engineeringpractice, Ethical issues in product liability, Innovations in engineeringethics education, Ethical issues and social impacts of informationtechnology, Engineering ethics, technology, and gender, Role ofprofessional engineering societies in ethics promotion andsupport, Risk assessment, management, and communication History ofengineering, ethics in the late 20th century Engineering ethics and theenvironment, Perspectives on engineering ethics from Science and Technologyand Studies, (STS) Engineering ethics and engineering design Allcontributions will be peer reviewed. Deadline for submissions is December31, 2000. Electronic submissions are preferred. Contact: Joseph R.Herkert, Guest Editor; Division of Multidisciplinary Studies; Box 7107;North Carolina State University; Raleigh, NC 27695-7107, USA; Email:j.herkert@ieee.org
Mephistos, March 30-April 1, 2001,University of Notre Dame. Please send an abstract and abrief c.v. to meph2001@nd.edu. Your abstract should be no more than 250words. Both the abstract and the c.v. should be in Word or .rtf format.Abstracts are due January 15, 2001. All presenters will receivenotification of their travel grant award by February 15, 2001. AtMephistos, you will have 20 minutes to present your paper, followed by a 10minute period for questions. Your paper should fit one of the followinggenres: Presentation of Research: Present a paper in the history,philosophy, or sociology of science, or a related discipline. Papers maycover any era, from the ancient period to the present day. ThoughMephistos 2001 is a conference for the History, Philosophy, and Sociologyof Science, we encourage students of allied fields to consider submittingtheir work to the conference. At past conferences, students of English,Communications, and Labor Studies (among other fields) have submittedpapers. Working session: Submit a dissertation chapter to theconference for open discussion. The paper will be availableto all participants through this site in the weeks leading up to theconference. Those participants who submit a dissertation chapter may alsosubmit a regular conference paper. Plan your own session: Rather thatsubmit a single paper on an independent topic, you may wish to organizewith other conference participants to submit 3-4 papers on a related theme.Science studies for the classroom: Papers on how to teach science studiesor on how Science Studies can complement the teaching of science inelementary, secondary, and higher education. Science studies for society:Papers on how science studies may be brought beyond academia.
Atomic Culture in the Nuclear Age, March7-10, Sheraton Oldtown Hotel, Albuquerque, New Mexico. TheSouthwest/Texas Popular Culture Association/American Culture Associationinvites panels and individual papers examining atomic culture for itsannual conference to be held March 7-10, 2001 at the Sheraton Oldtown Hotelin Albuquerque, New Mexico. Possible areas of consideration include, butare not limited to: Film, Television, Fiction and science fiction, Music,Radio, Comic books, Trinity, Civil defense, The nuclear physicist ascultural figure, Nuclear tourism, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Anti-nuclearmovements. Located between Los Alamos and the Trinity Site, Albuquerqueoffers a unique place to consider cultural manifestations of atomic energy.Participants will have the opportunity to visit the National Atomic Museumlocated on Kirtland Airforce Base. Please send proposals for panels andindividual papers (include a 100 word abstract and a one-page c.v.) byNovember 1, 2000, to the Area Chair at the address listed below. Contactinformation: Scott C. Zeman; Assistant Professor of HistoryHumanities Department; New Mexico Institute of Mining andTechnology; 801 Leroy Place; Socorro, New Mexico 87801; Phone:(505)835-5628 Fax: (505)835.5544; Email: szeman@nmt.edu; Call for Papers website: http://www2.okstate.edu/swpca/
Technologies of Uncertainty: ReconstructingOrder Through Rhetorics of Risk. Department of Science & TechnologyStudies, Cornell University, April 20-22, 2001. Inside andoutside academia, people engage in assessing, mitigating, managing, andcommunicating risk. Work in Science and Technology Studies has revealed howparticular ways of defining risks are social and political achievementswith public consequences. This interdisciplinary workshop expands uponthese important contributions by exploring how constructions of risk areemployed as a resource to sustain and transform social order. How doesrisk influence the production of new identities and reconfigure old ones?How is risk used as a device to construct and manage public(s)? How doactors manipulate risk discourse to influence the dynamics of power such ascredibility, legitimacy, and expertise? The Department of Science &Technology Studies at Cornell University invites researchers in all fieldsto reflect critically on how discourses of risk are used as political toolsin diverse areas, from nuclear power to Wall Street, information privacy togenetic testing. The workshop will be discussion intensive,including commentaries on precirculated papers. Sheila Jasanoff (KennedySchool of Government, Harvard University) and Brian Wynne (Centre for theStudy for Environmental Change, Lancaster University) will serve asdistinguished guests. Abstracts of no more than 250 words and a one-pagecurriculum vitae should be sent to the postal or e-mail address listedbelow by December 1, 2000. Full papers for pre-circulation will be dueMarch 9, 2001. Abstracts from scholars at all stages of their careers areencouraged. Josh Greenberg, Abstract Coordinator; Technologies ofUncertainty Workshop; Dept. of Science & Technology Studies; CornellUniversity; 630 Clark Hall; Ithaca, NY 14853; e-mail:jmg48@cornell.edu
The First Flight Centennial Commissioninvites the submission of proposals for sessions andindividual papers that might be presented during its internationalsymposium on the history of flight, October 22-25,2001, at North Carolina State University inRaleigh, NC. The Commission has established 5 major themesfor the symposiums as follows: (1) “North Carolina and the OuterBanks” circa 1900-11 while the Wrights tested various craft there; (2)“Innovation in Flight” from Wrights to the present; (3) “CivilAviation and Policy” from 1903 forward; (4) “Warfare and Flight”from 1903 forward; and (5) “Flight in Human Imagination,” includingart, music, literature and other aesthetic realms. Other topics beyondthese general themes in the history of flight (including rocketry andspace) are also invited for individual non-theme sessions. The Commissionalso welcomes session or presentation proposals using innovative methods ofpresentation, exhibitry, live demonstrations, and rare film for aconcurrent film festival on flight. The symposium will includeinternationally known speakers, entertainment, and tours to local centersof interest. Session and individual proposals (including speakers, theiraffiliations, session titles, and brief 1 or 2 sentence description) shouldbe submitted (if in hard copy) to Dr. Larry E. Tise,Symposium Director, First Flight Centennial Commission, 4635 Mail ServiceCenter, Raleigh, NC 27699-4635 not later than October 15, 2000. E-mailinquiries and submissions (but not as attachments) should be directed toDr. Tise at ltise@ibm.net. Non-program inquiries about the symposium andother activities of the Commission should be directed to the mailingaddress above or to phone 919.733.2003 or fax 919.715.8959.
Newsletter Affairs
Send inquiries about and information forThe Newsletter to:
Joseph C. Pitt, Editor
Department of Philosophy
Major Williams Hall
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA 24061-0126
E-mail: jcpitt@vt.edu
or Ben Cohen, Associate Editor
E-mail: bcohen@vt.edu
The Newsletter is published by Joseph C. Pitt,Andrew Garnar, and Ben Cohen
SPT Membership
SPT welcomes as members persons from allcountries whose professional interests include philosophically significantconsiderations of technology.
Membership is open to those who have anadvanced degree (typically but not necessarily in philosophy), to those whoare in a technological field, and to students whose work is in keeping withthe interests of the Society.
Dues are $15/year, expect for students andpeople from developing nations, which includes a subscription to TheNewsletter. Dues for students are $5 and gratis for peoplein developing nations.
Please enclose a cheque or money order for$15US (payable by a US branch of the bank on which it is drawn) made out tothe Society for Philosophy and Technology. Canadians may pay by chequepayable in Canadian dollars in an amount equal to $10US. The Society cannow accept Eurocheck numbers. Alas, we are not yet able to accept creditcards for payment.
Dues and this membership form should be sentto:
Diane Michelfelder
Department of Languages andPhilosophy
0720 Old Main Hill
Utah State University
Logan, UT 84322-0720
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