Machines, Virtues and the „Butlerian Jihad”

Authors

  • Piotr Machura

Keywords:

technology, ethics, virtue, anarcho-primitivism, Samuel Butler

Abstract

The paper discusses the consequences of technological change for agent’s spiritual development, defined here as a form of experiencing one’s life, its meaning and relation with the key aspects of reality. The analysis revolves around the concept of the “Butlerian Jihad” adapted from Frank Herbert’s Dune. I start with brief discussion of Samuel Butler’s claim against the machines to pinpoint his and early XIX-century luddites’s insights into the consequences of technological development. This is followed by addressing anarcho-primitivist critique of industrial society by Theodore Kaczynski and John Zerzan. Part three deals with the notion of “jihad” which offers useful insights into both the religious presuppositions underlying some of the innovations, as well as enables rising some important questions concerning agent-related consequences of the wide spread use of technology. This, I argue, might be best dealt with within the virtue ethics framework.

References

Annas J., Intelligent virtue, Oxford 2011.

Appiah K.A., The Honor Code: How Moral Revolutions Happen, New York–London 2011.

Arystoteles, Etyka nikomachejska, tłum. D. Gromska, w: tenże, Dzieła wszystkie, t. 5, Warszawa 2002.

Breen K., Work and Emancipatory Practice: Towards a Recovery of Human Beings’ Productive Capacities, „Res Publica”, vol. 13, issue 4 (2007).

Butler S. ,Darwin Among the Machines, „The Press”, 13 June 1863, http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-ButFir-t1-g1-t1-g1-t4-body.html [dostęp 17.07.2018].

Dukea É., Ch. Montag, Smartphone addiction, daily interruptions and self-reported productivity, „Addictive Behaviors Reports” 6 (2017).

Kaczynski T., Społeczeństwo przemysłowe i jego przyszłość. Manifest wojownika, tłum. A. Miernik, Mielec 2003.

Lund K., Wiping Finite Answers from an Infinite Universe, w: Dune and Philosophy. Weirding Way of the Mentat, Ed. J. Nicholas, Chicago and LaSalle 2011.

MacIntyre A., Dziedzictwo cnoty, tłum. A. Chmielewski, Warszawa 1996.

MacIntyre A., Sōphrosunē: How a Virtue Can Become Socially Disruptive, „Midwest Studies in Philosophy”, XIII (1988).

Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia. ed. J.W. Meri, vol. 1,New York–London 2005.

Morgan D., Essential Islam: A Comprehensive Guide to Belief and Practice, Santa Barbara–Denver–Oxford 2010.

Nussbaum M.C., Creating Capabilities. The Human Development Approach, Cambridge, Mass.-London 2011.

Nussbaum M.C., Transcending Humanity, w: Love’s Knowledge. Essays on Philosophy and Literature, New York–Oxford 1990.

Stone Z., Everything You Need to Know About Sophia, The World’s First Robot Citizen, „Forbes”, 2 November 2017, https://www.forbes.com/sites/zarastone/2017/11/07/everything-you-need-to-know-about-sophia-the-worlds-first-robot-citizen/#251b42446fa1 [dostęp 4.09.2018].

The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science-Fiction and Fantasy. Themes, Works, and Wonders, ed. G. Westfahl, Westport–London 2005.

Ward A.F., Duke K., Gneezy A., Bos M.W., Brain Drain: The Mere Presence of One’s Own Smartphone Reduces Available Cognitive Capacity, „Journal of the Association for Consumer Research”, 2(2)(2017).

Wilkes K.V., Psuchē versus the Mind, w: Essays on Aristotle’s De Anima, ed. M.C. Nussbaum, A.O. Rorty, Oxford 1995.

Zerzan J., Origins. A John Zerzan Reader, Milwaukee 2010.

Published

2020-12-29

How to Cite

Machura, P. (2020). Machines, Virtues and the „Butlerian Jihad”. Śląskie Studia Historyczno-Teologiczne, 51(2), 276–290. Retrieved from https://trrest.vot.pl/ojsus/index.php/ssht/article/view/10918

Issue

Section

Scientific articles