Raphael Sassower
Raphael Sassower (born 26 September 1955) is a professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS). His academic contributions have been in the fields of economics, medical theory and methodology, science and technology, postmodernism, education, aesthetics, and Popperian philosophy. He is also a leader in the field of postmodern technoscience. Education and career. Sassower was born and raised in Israel. He served as an officer in the Israeli army until he immigrated to the United States. He received his B.A. in Economics and Philosophy from Lake Forest College in 1980, and his Ph.D. in Philosophy  from Boston University in 1985. While at Boston University he studied under Joseph Agassi. He went on to spend his academic career at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs where he established and directed the Center for Arts and Humanities, and the Center for Women's Studies. He is the Director of the Center for Legal Studies and the Minor in Pre-Law, and has served as Chair of the Department of Philosophy. He was awarded the president's Teaching Scholar award in 2014, and is regarded as a public intellectual by his colleagues. His thesis was on "What Gives  Economics Scientific Status? Methodological Transformation in Political Economy and its Pragmatic Consequences." Many of his research concerns are in regard to political economy, he is also contributes to the "Colorado Springs Business Journal" frequently. An ambitious entrepreneur he started multiple businesses bringing new life to downtown Colorado Springs. Research contributions. Postmodern technoscience. Postmodernism is not considered to be chronological, as something coming after modernism (post-modernism). Postmodernism is regarded as having a broader scope than modernism. It an interdisciplinary worldview which acknowledges the inherent contradictions of existence while allowing for a plurality of "truths". Technoscience is a term coined to  examine the intimate connection between the development of science and technology. This demands an ethical obligation for scientists to be accountable to the technological mishaps that stem from their development. The consequences of research become more relevant when science and technology are viewed as interconnected and as the engines of economic growth. The traditional, modernist view regards science as morally neutral and technology morally suspect in its application. Postmodern technoscience sees science as informing technology as much as technology informs science. Revised and reprinted in New England Journal of Public Policy 4:215–225, 1988. Works. Selected publications. Reprinted in The AIDS  Epidemic: Private Rights and the Public Interest, Padraig O'Malley (ed.), Boston: Beacon Press, 1989.