294 research outputs found

    The Technological Mediation of Morality - A Post-Phenomenological Approach to Moral Subjectivity and Moral Objectivity

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    This paper analyzes the moral relevance of technological artifacts and its possible role in ethical theory, by taking the postphenomenological approach that has developed around the work of Don Ihde into the domain of ethics. By elaborating a postphenomenological analysis of the mediating role of ultrasound in moral decisions about abortion, the article argues that technologies embody morality, and help to constitute moral subjectivity. This technological mediation of the moral subject is subsequently addressed in terms of Michel Foucault’s ethical position, in which ethics is about actively co–shaping one’s moral subjectivity. Integrating Foucauldian ethics and postphenomenology, the article argues that the technologicalmediation ofmoral subjectivity should be at the heart of an ethical approach that takes the moral dimensions of technology seriously

    Virtual existence and its ambiguities: how postphenomenology of technology clarifies our situation in a digital world.

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    For many contemporary western societies, digital technology has become a pervasive aspect of the day-to-day lives of many individuals, and a large philosophical conversation has resulted around how the use of such technologies changes our lives. Postphenomenology, a relatively recent philosophical development, offers a distinct approach to discussing technology from a practical, situated orientation. While this approach has roots in phenomenologists like Martin Heidegger and Maurice Merleau-Ponty, it attempts a more contingent and empirical project that more thoroughly discusses the existential implications of human/technology relationships. In this paper, I trace the roots of postphenomenology in the works of Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty, examine some challenges from the poststructuralist writers Michel Foucault and Jean Baudrillard, and explain how postphenomenology can persist as a useful philosophical approach to technology. Furthermore, I examine our relationship to digital devices through a postphenomenological lens in order to highlight some distinct existential implications that result from using these complex technologies. Ultimately, after developing ideas from other authors of postphenomenological literature, particularly in Don Ihde’s transparency/opacity model, I conclude that our relationship to digital technologies is accurately characterized as a hybrid relation where we both embody them and interpret their contents

    Beyond Instrumentalism: Exploring the Affordance Construal of Technology in Heidegger

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    Current philosophies of technology derived from and inspired by Heidegger’s—exemplified by Postphenomenology and Critical Constructivism—have favored a focus on technological design issues; succumbing consequently; to an instrumental view of technology. This favored focus had contributed to an obliviousness to technology’s inherent dangers which are precisely immune from technological design modifications. Exploring the construal of technology as affordances; this paper offers a contrasting reading of Heidegger’s technology as embedded and embodied dispositions for specific possibilities for being and doing. Consequently; it argues for a more viable alternative to the often-implicit instrumentalist and artefactual view of technologies that frequently undergird prevalent empirical inquiries on how to design technologies and on how to improve our use of technology. Specifically; the paper argues for the employment of an affordance construal to explain technological phenomena. Opposed to instrumentalism; the affordance construal of technology has the advantage of adopting Heidegger’s relational ontology in viewing technology; hereby eschewing the prevalent reductionist view of technologies as artefacts and instruments. In addition; such an account objects to the uncritical and triumphalist reception of any and all technological innovation and invention; typified by many transhumanist/posthumanist positions

    Multistable Technologies and Pedagogy for Resilience

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    Accelerated technological innovation induces disruptions in society and education. It results in both threats to and opportunities for the way the society learns and works. This case study examined the phenomenon of learning in a disruptive environment. The chosen typical case of a disruptive learning environment was comprised of multistable technology and multiple cross-disciplinary, stakeholders. To reveal how inexpert stakeholders cope with technological barriers, the study examined design studio education as a research site. There, groups of design students used 3D printing to develop assistive technologies together with patients and therapists. The empirical data collected on site was analyzed through qualitative content analysis and postphenomenological concepts. The study showed how new multistable technologies impose relational, fluid models of learning on site by revealing mediations between technology and humans. This new perspective on learning in disruptive environments informs practical sustainable pedagogical practices and theoretical approach to learning for resilience by expending vocabulary concerning technological education. It also proposes altered priorities for formal education. Instead of solely focusing on the knowledge content or learners’ development, formal education should also take into account learners relations with their social and technological environment

    User-Environment Relations : A Postphenomenology of Virtual Reality

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    Innen HCI blir interaksjon tradisjonelt forstÄtt som noe som skjer mellom de forhÄndsantatte enhetene «menneskelig bruker» og «teknologisk objekt». SÊrlig tvinger omsluttende VR-teknologi oss til Ä revurdere disse antagelsene, ettersom den menneskelige brukeren og det virtuelle miljÞet former hverandre gjensidig i relasjonene som konstitueres mellom dem. Postfenomenologien ser ut til Ä vÊre en lovende kandidat for det Ä redegjÞre for kompleksiteten til VR-mediering ettersom den tilbyr et mer helhetlig syn, og tar hensyn til hvordan teknologier tar del i konstitueringen av menneskers livsverdener. Ettersom virtuelle miljÞer ikke bare er verktÞy vi samhandler med eller bruker, men miljÞer hvor vi eksisterer og som vi blir formet gjennom, ser postfenomenologien ut til Ä tilby et lovende perspektiv for Ä fremme vÄr forstÄelse av hvordan VR tar del i Ä endre vÄr opplevelse av hvem vi er i forhold til vÄre verdener. Denne doktorgradsavhandlingen undersÞker hvordan postfenomenologi kan tas i bruk konstruktivt for Ä fÄ en kvalitativ forstÄelse av brukeropplevelse i omsluttende VR-teknologi. Avhandlingen presenterer teoretiske, metodiske og empiriske bidrag. Teoretisk sett introduseres menneske-teknologi-relasjonen som VR utgjÞr som bruker-miljÞ-relasjoner. Gjennom en analyse av menneske-teknologi-relasjonen som VR utgjÞr, demonstreres det hvordan forskere kan dra nytte av en postfenomenologisk forstÄelse av VR, samt hvordan VR-mediet selv krever en revurdering av tradisjonelle postfenomenologiske kategorier av menneske-teknologi-relasjoner. Metodisk sett, foreslÄs «VR Go-along»-metoden som en passende tilnÊrming for Ä gi kvalitative vurderinger av brukeropplevelsen som mediert i de konstituerte bruker-miljÞ-relasjonene. Empirisk sett, presenterer avhandlingen en kvalitativ og utforskende «in-the-wild»-studie av omsluttende VR-bruk over to mÄneder, hvor «VR Go-along»-metoden brukes til Ä undersÞke deltakernes brukeropplevelse slik de er mediert i de konstituerte bruker-miljÞ-relasjonene. Denne avhandlingen fungerer som en refleksiv redegjÞrelse av forfatterens undersÞkelse om bruken av postfenomenologi for Ä gi en forstÄelse av mediering i omsluttende VR-teknologi. Den demonstrerer det gjensidig fordelaktige forholdet mellom postfenomenologi og omsluttende VR og illustrerer hvordan postfenomenologiske undersÞkelser av omsluttende VR-mediering kan gjennomfÞres. Gjennom avhandlingen argumenteres det for at forskere kan fÄ en mer helhetlig forstÄelse av hvordan VR medierer brukeropplevelse ved Ä se pÄ hvordan brukeropplevelsen i omsluttende VR medieres i de konstituerte bruker-miljÞ-relasjonene. Bidraget til denne avhandlingen fungerer som en forelÞpig undersÞkelse av hvordan postfenomenologi kan brukes fruktbart innen HCI for Ä forstÄ og spÞrre om brukeropplevelsen i omsluttende VR og relasjonene som omsluttende VR gir opphav til.In HCI, interaction is traditionally understood as something that occurs between the pre-given entities of a human user and a technological object. The technology of Immersive Virtual Reality (VR), in particular, forces us to reconsider these presuppositions, as the human user and the virtual environment mutually shape each other in the relations constituted between them. Postphenomenology seems to be a promising candidate to account for the complexities of VR mediation as it takes a more holistic view, attending to how technologies mediate human beings' lifeworlds. As virtual environments are not just tools we interact with or use, but environments in which we exist and through which we are shaped, postphenomenology seems to offer a promising perspective for furthering our understanding of how VR takes part in altering our experience of who we are in relation to our worlds. This doctoral dissertation presents an inquiry into how postphenomenology can be constructively used to gain a qualitative understanding of user experience in Immersive VR. The dissertation presents theoretical, methodical and empirical contributions. Theoretically, the human-technology relation that VR constitute is introduced as user-environment relations. Through an analysis of the human-technology relation that VR constitutes, it is demonstrated how researchers can benefit from a postphenomenological understanding of VR as well as how VR prompts a reconsideration of traditional postphenomenological categories of human-technology relations. Methodically, it proposes the VR Go-along method as an approach to qualitatively assessing the user experience as mediated in the constituted user-environment relations. Empirically, this dissertation presents a qualitative and explorative in-the-wild study of Immersive VR use over two months, where the VR Go-along is utilised to inquire into the participants' user experience as mediated in the constituted user-environment relations. This dissertation serves as a reflexive account of the author's inquiry into the use of postphenomenology to provide an understanding of Immersive VR mediation. It demonstrates the mutually beneficial relationship between postphenomenology and Immersive VR and illustrates how postphenomenological inquiries into Immersive VR mediation can be conducted. Throughout the dissertation, it is argued that researchers can gain a more holistic understanding of how VR mediates user experience by attending to how the user experience in Immersive VR is mediated in the constituted user-environment relations. The contribution of this dissertation serves as a preliminary inquiry into how postphenomenology can be fruitfully employed in HCI to understand and inquire into the user experience in Immersive VR and the relations to which it gives rise.Doktorgradsavhandlin

    Towards a Postphenomenological Approach to Wearable Technology through Design Journeys

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    The field of wearable technology has extensively described the opportunities, challenges as well as the concerns around integrating digital technologies into fashion. However, it has so far not provided a sufficiently clear and embodied understanding of technology. Technology therefore is often still limited to something that adds functionality to textiles or clothing. Additionally, technology is seen as a way to enhance the visual expression and thereby the representational character of clothing. Both approaches seem to hinder the intersection of digital technologies and textiles on a material and embodied level. While the role of wearable technologies in the everyday could benefit from it. In this paper, we therefore argue for reframing the understanding of technology to better facilitate the integration of digital technologies (i.e. electronics and software) into everyday fashion. A reflective analysis of the process of designing wearable technologies, based on the design practice of the first author, reveals that technology is considered a material and that its material qualities are not thought of as either functional or aesthetic. These insights, arising from practice, have led us to turn to postphenomenology (a strand of philosophy of technology) to come to further conceptualization. Postphenomenology looks at the ways in which technologies mediate or “coshape” the relationship between human beings and the world. By seeing technologies as the media that connect humans to the world, they acquire a material and contextual dimension. The idea that artifacts mediate materially thus offers a very useful starting point for understanding and designing wearable technologies. The contribution of this article is twofold, namely, first, to provide a material understanding of the technology on the basis of design practice. And secondly, to bridge design practice with theory by suggesting to bring postphenomenology into fashion to better facilitate the design of wearable technologies for the everyday

    Educating designers with 3D printers: a postphenomenological perspective on maker and design pedagogy

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    Learning in makerspaces is free from curriculum and evaluation and is believed to yield practical, self-driven and solution-oriented learners. This study explores how makerspace pedagogy can be emulated in formal higher education settings to support this kind of learning. Action research was used to cultivate and review this pedagogical approach in three repeated design studio courses using three-dimensional (3D) printing lab. The maker pedagogy was to support self-driven learning emerging in relationship between learners, their social environment and technology media. Maker and design pedagogy has been further theoretically developed using postphenomenology as a process of learners’ adoption of 3D printers in own design practice, learners’ adaptation to the affordances of the 3D printers, and attainment of learners’ own goals in social contexts using 3D printing technology. Finally, the study indicates how shifting from constructivist to postphenomenological theoretical concepts can give new insights and strengthen sustainable pedagogical practices. Limitations and opportunities for maker pedagogy in formal education are addressed with these new insights

    Opening up the in-between: Ihde’s postphenomenology and beyond

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    Narrating artificial intelligence:The story of AlphaGo

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    Young people’s sharing of sexualized digital imagery: Processes of acceleration in human-technology interactions

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    The ubiquity of smartphones and social media has introduced new ways of being connected and engaged in digitally mediated spaces, including the possibilities of exchanging private sexualized digital imagery – a practice known as ‘sexting’. In this paper, we study the ways in which young people’s engagement in both consensual and non-consensual sexting practices is facilitated – and sometimes even accelerated – by technology. Our study is based on focus group interviews with young people aged 16-21, 6 months of digital ethnography on social and digital media, and posts concerning sexting written by young people on Danish counselling websites. We draw on perspectives from postphenomenology and new materialism in order to focus on human-technology interactions and how digital technologies shape social processes and interactions when young people exchange sexualized digital images and videos. We attend to the ways the affordances of social media (e.g., spreadability, ephemerality and persistence) facilitate and mediate young people’s sharing of sexualized imagery and how the affects emerging through these processes produce intensities, fantasies and intimacies, which both motivate and accelerate these practices. Our analyses seek to refine current understandings of young people’s production and sharing of sexualized digital imagery. Moreover, we argue that there is a need for further development of psychological concepts and analyses that can adequately grasp the nuances of the complex digital and visual intimate, social, sexual processes of young people’s lives and advance the research field of sexting among young people
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