“Philosophy of Technology,” as taught by David F. Skrbina, a lecturer in philosophy at the University of Michigan at Dearborn, strikes me as the sort of course you probably should wait to unveil until after you’ve got tenure, preferably at a private university:
In his course ... Skrbina highlights the great thinkers in history who have commented on the dangers of technology. He discusses one of Plato’s dialogues, which considers whether writing itself is a kind of technology, one that could be deceptive. He touches on Heidegger’s warnings of the “supreme danger” of technology. He asks students to read Rousseau’s “Discourse on Science and Arts.”
[Ted] Kaczynski’s writings get equal time.
Skrbina corresponds often with the imprisoned man known as the Unabomber, and has compiled a book of his writings. Writes Jeffrey Young, in the Chronicle of Higher Education:
For the most part, the scholar is reluctant to say whether he agrees or disagrees with Kaczynski’s extreme conclusions. He is clear in condemning Kaczynski’s bombing campaign, though. In his introduction to “Technological Slavery,” he says: “His tactics were deplorable, and I for one do not endorse such actions.”
And the academic-freedom controversy begins ... now.
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