The Post-Dystopian Technorealism of Ted Chiang

Authors

  • James Hughes IEET
  • Nir Eisikovits Applied Ethics Center

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55613/jeet.v32i1.97

Keywords:

science fiction, technorealism, utopia, Luddism

Abstract

In this article, we argue that Ted Chiang’s short stories offer a realist philosophy of technology, one that charts a third course between the techno-pessimism and techno-optimism that characterize the history of philosophizing about technology and much of the speculative fiction about it. We begin by surveying the history of utopian and skeptical approaches to technology in philosophy and speculative fiction. We then move to discuss two of Chiang’s recent stories and use them to articulate the author’s techno-realism. Chiang’s view, as it is developed in these stories, has three features: First, technology is not merely an agent of de-skilling, it can also promote self-knowledge and insight. Second, technology is not only an agent of alienation it can also provide succor and psychological relief. Finally, technology does not necessarily remake us into new beings with new capacities and needs. In many cases, it just gives us further avenues to be what we already were - to act on the tendencies and pursue the needs we always had.

Author Biography

  • Nir Eisikovits, Applied Ethics Center

    I study the ethics of war, the nature of asymmetrical conflict and how countries rebuild after conflict. I also run the Applied Ethics Center at UMB where we explore questions at the intersection of ethics and everyday life.

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Published

2022-06-30

Issue

Section

Literature Review

How to Cite

The Post-Dystopian Technorealism of Ted Chiang. (2022). Journal of Ethics and Emerging Technologies, 32(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.55613/jeet.v32i1.97