Technology has extended its reach to the human
body, not just in a literal sense, through implants, transplants and
technological substitutes for biological organs, but in a more figurative sense
too. Technological infrastructure and the institutions of a technified society today
determine what perception is, how we communicate and what forms of human
relationship with the natural world are possible. A fundamental new conception
of technology is urgently needed. Technology can no longer be seen as a means
for efficiently attaining pre-established ends. Rather, it must be seen as a total structure which makes new forms of
human action and human relationship possible, while limiting the possibilities
of others.

In Invasive
Technification, acclaimed German philosopher Gernot Böhme offers a reading
of technology that explores the many dimensions in which technology presents
challenges for modern human beings. It is a book about the preservation of
humanity and humane values under the demanding conditions of a technically
advanced civilisation and makes a major contribution to the contemporary
philosophy of technology.

Gernot Böhme was Professor of Philosophy at Darmstadt's Technische Univerität, Germany, between 1977 and 2002.



He is well-known in Germany for his work in aesthetics, the philosophy of nature, the philosophy of embodiment, the philosophy of science/technology and his view of philosophy as a practical form of life. His publications in English include Coping with Science (Westview, 1992) and Ethics in Context (Polity, 2001).

Cameron Shingleton is a translator and lecturer at
the Melbourne School of Continental Philosophy, University of Melbourne,
Australia.