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Social Science Technology Studies

Rescuing Humanity

Transcending the Limits of Mathematics, Science, and Technology

by (author) Willem H. Vanderburg

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
May 2023
Category
Technology Studies, Philosophy & Social Aspects, Religious
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781487551100
    Publish Date
    May 2023
    List Price
    $99.00
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781487552473
    Publish Date
    May 2023
    List Price
    $48.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781487553708
    Publish Date
    May 2023
    List Price
    $48.95

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Description

In Rescuing Humanity, Willem H. Vanderburg reminds us that we have relied on discipline-based approaches for human knowing, doing, and organizing for less than a century. During this brief period, these approaches have become responsible for both our spectacular successes and most of our social and environmental crises. At their roots is a cultural mutation that includes secular religious attitudes that veil the limits of these approaches, leading to their overvaluation. Because their use, especially in science and technology, is primarily built up with mathematics, living entities and systems can be dealt with only as if their "architecture" or "design" is based on the principle of non-contradiction, which is true only for non-living entities. This distortion explains our many crises.

 

Vanderburg begins to explore the limits of discipline-based approaches, which guides the way toward developing complementary ones capable of transcending these limits. It is no different from a carpenter going beyond the limits of his hammer by reaching for other tools. As we grapple with everything from the impacts of social media, the ongoing climate crisis, and divisive political ideologies, Rescuing Humanity reveals that our civilization must learn to do the equivalent if humans and other living things are to continue making earth a home.

About the author

Willem H. Vanderburg is a professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, where he was the founding director of the Centre for Technology and Social Development. He was a NATO post-doctoral fellow under Jacques Ellul from 1973 to 1978 at the University of Bordeaux.

Willem H. Vanderburg's profile page