This book examines Fuller's pioneering vision of social epistemology. It focuses specifically on his work post-2000, which is founded in the changing conception of humanity and project into a 'post-' or 'trans-' human future. Chapters treat especially Fuller's provocative response to the changing boundary conditions of the knower due to anticipated changes in humanity coming from the nanosciences, neuroscience, synthetic biology and computer technology and end on an interview with Fuller himself. While Fuller's turn in this direction has invited at least as much criticism as his earlier work, to him the result is an extended sense of the knower, or 'humanity 2.0', which Fuller himself identifies with transhumanism. The authors assess Fuller's work on the following issues: Science and Technology Studies (STS), the university and intellectual life, neo-liberal political economy, intelligent design, Cosmism, Gnosticism, agent-oriented epistemology, proactionary vs precautionary principles and Welfare State 2.0.

The new edition of this authoritative introduction to the philosophy of technology includes recent developments in the subject, while retaining the range and depth of its selection of seminal contributions and its much-admired editorial commentary. * Remains the most comprehensive anthology on the philosophy of technology available * Includes editors insightful section introductions and critical summaries for each selection * Revised and updated to reflect the latest developments in the field * Combines difficult to find seminal essays with a judicious selection of contemporary material * Examines the relationship between technology and the understanding of the nature of science that underlies technology studies

"Dusek's book is an intellectual feast where we find magic, witches, mysterious correlations, trigrams of the I Ching, forces and fields, peasants and Platonists, wild nature, primitives and sophisticates, and how they hang together." --Robert S. Cohen, professor of physics and philosophy emeritus, Boston University While many books have claimed parallels between modern physics and Eastern philosophy, none have dealt with the historical influences of both Chinese traditional thought and nonmechanistic, holistic Western thought on the philosophies of the scientists who developed electromagnetic filed theory. This is the basic question of The Holistic Inspirations of Physics: To what extent is classical field theory a product of organic and holistic philosophies and frameworks? Electromagnetic theory has been greatly influenced by holistic worldviews, Val Dusek posits, highlighting three intellectual traditions that made the development of electromagnetic theory possible: Chinese science, Western Renaissance occultism, and German Romanticism. Among the specific contributions discussed in detail are the Chinese invention of the compass and discovery of the earth's magnetic field and magnetic declination. Western alchemist ideas of active forces and "occult" influences contributed to Newton's theory of universal gravitation as action at a distance, rather than as a result of purely mechanical collisions and contact action. Dusek's wide-ranging, erudite account also delves into the philosophical concepts that were originated by women and were later absorbed into mainstream field theory. Val Dusek teaches philosophy at the University of New Hampshire. He has written many articles on philosophy and science.