The technological imperative in Canada
Subtitle: an intellectual history
By: R. Douglas Francis
Publisher: UBC Press
Published: 2009
Place of publication: Vancouver
Language: eng
Number of pages: 327
ISBN-13: 9780774816502
Subjects: Intellectual life; Philosophy; Technology; Technology and civilization; History
Description: Technology is and has always been the subject of critical debate. This wide-ranging, engaging book examines the ideas of Anglo-Canadian theorists who saw technology as a new imperative that would either enhance or threaten the moral imperative. From the mid-nineteenth century onward, advocates argued that techno-logy, as a moral force, would strengthen the ties that bound Canada to Britain and Western civilization, while opponents saw technology as a source of American power that threatened Canadian independence. The Technological Imperative in Canada offers new insights into the ideas of influential Canadian theorists of technology such as Harold Innis and Marshall McLuhan and introduces readers to the ideas and perceptions of lesser-known but key figures such as Sandford Fleming, Stephen Leacock, and E.J. Pratt. This seminal book revises the entrenched notion that Anglo-Canadian thought has been dominated by the moral imperative.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [307]-320) and index.
Table of contents: title: 1. Perspectives on technology; title: 2. T.C. Keefer, T.C. Haliburton, Sandford Fleming, and Alexander Graham Bell: technology as railways, communication media, and time; title: 3. Advocates of technical education: technology as knowledge; title: 4. George Sidney Brett and the debate on technology as war: technology dethroned; title: 5. William Lyon Mackenzie King and Frederick Philip Grove: technology as industrialism; title: 6. Stephen Leacock and Archibald Lampman: technology as mechanization; title: 7. Harold A. Innis and Eric Havelock: technology as power; title: 8. Marshall McLuhan: making sense(s) of technology; title: 9. Northrop Frye and E.J. Pratt: technology as mythology; title: 10. George Grant and Dennis Lee: technology as being.