We instinctively think of ourselves as the masters and creators of technology, which serves as a tool for our own purposes. Those purposes become grander as technology develops, including the transformation of human nature and even the triumph over death. But we have also come to see the dangers technology poses to the human race, the way it can change us in ways we did not expect. This seminar will explore the nature of technology and power and the impact they have on human nature. We will read excerpts from the work of the twentieth-century German philosopher and theologian, Romano Guardini, including The End of the Modern World and Letters from Lake Como.
This is the Graduate student reading group for the Fall semester of 2019. For the undergraduate student reading group on the same topic, click here.
Dinner will be provided and readings will be circulated beforehand. Please sign up for the mailing list to be notified when the readings are available.
SCHEDULE
Friday, October 18
Romano Guardini, The End of the Modern World, ch. 4
Friday, November 1
Romano Guardini, Letters from Lake Como, chs. 1, 2, and 8.
Friday, November 15
Romano Guardini, Letters from Lake Como, ch. 9.
Friday, November 22
Wendell Barry, “Feminism, the Body, and the Machine”.