THE TECHNOLOGICAL IMAGINARY: BRINGING MYTH AND IMAGINATION INTO DIALOGUE WITH BRONISLAW SZERSZYNSKI'S NATURE, TECHNOLOGY AND THE SACRED

Michael W. DeLashmutt; Michael W. DeLashmutt

doi:10.1111/j.1467-9744.2006.00778.x

Abstract

Bronislaw Szerszynski's Nature, Technology and the Sacred (2005) offers a fresh look into the historical, cultural, and political implications of technology use in our contemporary situation. By challenging the standard interpretation of the secularization thesis, the book opens the door to a new kind of postmodern ordering of the sacred, which includes our ever‐developing perception of the environment and our ongoing use of technology. In my discussion of the text, I suggest that Szerszynski's argument could have been furthered by exploring the role played by both imagination and myth in creating the postmodern sacred that he describes. I argue that by giving consideration to Friedrich Dessauer's Christian theology of technology and the mythical imagination of contemporary science fiction literature and film, a more explicitly religious dimension of technology can be allowed to emerge in the form of the technological imaginary.

Keywords

science fiction, imagination, invention, Friedrich Dessauer, technology, Nature, Technology and the Sacred, Michel Foucault, philosophy of technology, inventiveness, secularization, myth, Bronislaw Szerszynski

How to Cite

DeLashmutt, M., (2006) “THE TECHNOLOGICAL IMAGINARY: BRINGING MYTH AND IMAGINATION INTO DIALOGUE WITH BRONISLAW SZERSZYNSKI'S NATURE, TECHNOLOGY AND THE SACRED ”, Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 41(4), 801–810. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9744.2006.00778.x

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801–810

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2006-12-02

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