Ruling the Future? Heretical Reflections on Technology and Other Secular Religions of Sustainability

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" Ruling the Future? Heretical Reflections on Technology and Other Secular Religions of Sustainability "
Aidan Davison

Document Type	:	AL
Record Number	:	1085872
Doc. No	:	LA129501
Call No	:	‭10.1163/156853508X359958‬
Language of Document	:	English
Main Entry	:	Aidan Davison
Title & Author	:	Ruling the Future? Heretical Reflections on Technology and Other Secular Religions of Sustainability [Article]\ Aidan Davison
Publication Statement	:	Leiden: Brill
Title of Periodical	:	Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology
Date	:	2008
Volume/ Issue Number	:	12/2-3
Page No	:	146–162
Abstract	:	I argue that the quest for sustainability in Western societies has been shaped by the secular religion of technology. Technological endeavor and moral reflection have been held apart in this quest, with the result that reformist and transformative approaches to sustainability often overlook articles of modern faith in technology. Instrumentalist appeals to eco-efficiency and environmentalist appeals to nature implicitly invest technology with transcendent significance. In response, I rely upon accounts of practical reason in outlining a secular strategy for constituting sustainability as practical moral endeavor. Characterizing this endeavor as faithfulness in the task of sustaining a good world, I suggest that skillful handling of the moral and ontological substance of technology is the very essence of sustainability. I argue that the quest for sustainability in Western societies has been shaped by the secular religion of technology. Technological endeavor and moral reflection have been held apart in this quest, with the result that reformist and transformative approaches to sustainability often overlook articles of modern faith in technology. Instrumentalist appeals to eco-efficiency and environmentalist appeals to nature implicitly invest technology with transcendent significance. In response, I rely upon accounts of practical reason in outlining a secular strategy for constituting sustainability as practical moral endeavor. Characterizing this endeavor as faithfulness in the task of sustaining a good world, I suggest that skillful handling of the moral and ontological substance of technology is the very essence of sustainability.
Descriptor	:	ENVIRONMENTALISM
Descriptor	:	ETHICS
Descriptor	:	PRACTICAL REASON
Descriptor	:	SECULAR RELIGION
Descriptor	:	SUSTAINABILITY
Descriptor	:	TECHNOLOGY
Location & Call number	:	‭10.1163/156853508X359958‬