Philip Brey: SIRG seminar Wednesday 28 September at 1.00 pm
The next SIRG seminar will take place on Wednesday 28 September at 1.00 pm. Details follow.
SIRG Seminar, Open University
Wednesday 28 September 2011 @ 1.00 pm
David Gorham Library (first floor Venables, N1015)
Philip Brey
Allan Jones
Abstract
Philip Brey is a philosopher of technology based at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. He is a prolific author of journal articles and book chapters on topics as diverse as distance education, nanotechnology, and the social construction of technology.
In this short presentation I will offer some comments on his work based, necessarily, on a selective reading of his large output. I will argue that his main strengths are clarity of expression, wide range of interests, and a sympathetic attitude to social studies of science and technology. In so far social scientists and philosophers tend to be suspicious of each other, Brey’s acceptance of social-scientific approaches to science and technology is somewhat unusual. Furthermore, as an outsider, his critical assessment of the various strands of social studies of technology offers several illuminating insights, as I hope to illustrate.