Technological society and the prosthetic alteration of the human being

• Main Author: McCullagh, Suzanne, 1975-
• Other Authors: Memorial University of Newfoundland. Dept. of Philosophy
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2002
• Subjects: Technology > Social aspects; Experience; Newfoundland studies; University of Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/theses3/id/150467

Thesis (M.A.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2002. Philosophy Bibliography: leaves 59-60. The human-technology relationship may be helpful or harmful for human life, and technologies may be conceived in terms of tools and prostheses. Prostheses replace something the human is lacking, while tools enable. Contemporary technological society promotes prosthetic dependency by privileging the machine over the human, and consequently judging the human by the standards of the machine. Prostheses, when not converted to tools, may hinder human life by inhibiting the individual's ability to experience the world. Prosthesis, as a substitute for experience and personal judgment, potentially endangers personhood.