A retweet by Peter-Paul Verbeek (@ppverbeek) about a new book on Asian perspectives on technology by Pak-Hang Wong and Tom Xiaowei Wang, Harmonious Technology, A Confucian Ethics of Technology (which I have just preordered), also led me to discover that Carl Mitcham (who had provided "blurb" for Pak-Hang Wong's book) had also recently published a new book, Steps Toward a Philosophy of Engineering (which I have just ordered) .
As a complete amateur in the world of philosophy, there's always a sense of "why don't I give up and just read the books by the Pros?" But that would be to misunderstand philosophy; examining the life, generating our own perspectives and networks, as well as inklings of understanding, is what it's all about. The Mitchams and Verbeeks of the world can act as the fundamental physicists of life: they can discover the links and the meanings that enrich our lives, whilst we can endeavour to make use of whichever tools they fashion in the best way that we can.
And, who knows, perhaps we'll end up contributing to the design and development, the evolution of those tools, too!
As it happens, my next post is all about tools...
