Congratulations to Joel Wilf for passing his dissertation defense on Friday, April 12, 2024!
Title of Dissertation:
TECHNICALLY UTOPIA: TECHNOLOGY AND CONTROL IN UTOPIAN FICTION
Abstract:
One of the enduring problems in the philosophy of technology is the “question of control:” to what extent is technology controlled by humans; and to what extent does it shape the society and its values? This study explores the “question of control” through a framework from the philosophy of technology, using a sample of modern fictional utopias as proxies for the “conceptual designs of desired, future societies.” Analyzing these utopias it asks: How do utopian societies use technology to meet their goals? How do utopian societies address risk and uncertainty? Do utopian societies treat information and communication technology (ICT) differently than other technologies? Do utopian societies implicitly follow a philosophy of technology? To answer these questions, the study employs an open-ended, qualitative content analysis method. A set of utopias are selected through purposive sampling. Coding categories are derived inductively from the data, guided by the conceptual frameworks mentioned above. The selected utopias are then coded and analyzed to answer the research questions and contribute to answering the “question of control.” The study has been performed as described here. The resulting insights have identified the underlying philosophy of technology in all nine of the utopian case studies; it advanced the prior work on technology in utopia; developed a deeper understanding of technical risk, especially for ICT; and created a deeper theoretical connection between utopian theory, critical constructivism, and systems engineering concepts; lastly, it provided a deeper theoretical underpinning from which the “question of control” was framed and answered.
Committee Members:
Dr. Jenifer Winter (CIS), Chair
Dr. Elizabeth Davidson (CIS)
Dr. Rich Gazan (CIS)
Dr. Daniel Port (CIS)
Dr. Todd Sammons (English Department), University Representative