
Against Nature
The Metaphysics of Information Systems
David Kreps(Author)
Routledge (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 30. June 2020
Book
Paperback/Softback
110 pages
978-0-367-60701-2 (ISBN)
Description
This book questions the nature of the business and social information systems so ubiquitous in contemporary life. Linking positivism, individualism, and market-fundamentalist economics at the root of these systems, it critiques the philosophical ground of this triumvirate as fundamentally against nature. Connecting counter-philosophies of the subject as a natural part of existence, with more collectivist and ecological economics, it presents a historical critique of the development of the academic field of information systems and offers a complex view of the nature of Nature through which we might reshape our approach to technology and to our economies to overcome the existential threat of climate change. As such, it will appeal to philosophers, social theorists, and scholars of science and technology studies with interests in the environment and ecology, as well as those working in the field of information systems.
Reviews / Votes
'Kreps brilliantly demonstrates how strongly IS (information systems) research has been and still is influenced by a positivist view of the world ... Instead, Kreps proposes to borrow from Bergson's and Whitehead's process-relational philosophy, from moral philosophy and from complexity theory, to claim that the libertarian argument for the neoliberal digital capitalist society runs counter to the reality of the natural world of which we are a part.' - Frantz Rowe, European Journal of Information Systems'Drawing inspiration from the sensitive experience of our social existence and from a more inclusive and ecological conception of the economy, this book presents a historical critique of the development of the academic field of information systems and offers an analytical perspective on our relationship with nature from which we could rethink the question of technology to overcome the threat that climate change poses to our biosphere.' - Dominique Desbois, Terminal 'Kreps brilliantly demonstrates how strongly IS (information systems) research has been and still is influenced by a positivist view of the world ... Instead, Kreps proposes to borrow from Bergson's and Whitehead's process-relational philosophy, from moral philosophy and from complexity theory, to claim that the libertarian argument for the neoliberal digital capitalist society runs counter to the reality of the natural world of which we are a part.' - Frantz Rowe, European Journal of Information Systems
'Drawing inspiration from the sensitive experience of our social existence and from a more inclusive and ecological conception of the economy, this book presents a historical critique of the development of the academic field of information systems and offers an analytical perspective on our relationship with nature from which we could rethink the question of technology to overcome the threat that climate change poses to our biosphere.' - Dominique Desbois, Terminal
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Postgraduate and Undergraduate
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 7 mm
Weight
160 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-367-60701-2 (9780367607012)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
05/2018
1st Edition
Routledge
€32.99
Available for download

E-Book
05/2018
1st Edition
Routledge
€32.99
Available for download

Book
05/2018
1st Edition
Routledge
€83.80
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
David Kreps is Lecturer in the J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics at NUI Galway, Ireland. His books include Bergson, Complexity and Creative Emergence; Technology and Intimacy: Choice or Coercion; and Gramsci and Foucault: A Reassessment.
Content
List of Tables
1. A Transdisciplinary Approach
2. The Problem with Digital
3. The Future Does Not Exist
4. The World in a New Light
5. A Theoretical Manifesto for Green IT
Index
1. A Transdisciplinary Approach
2. The Problem with Digital
3. The Future Does Not Exist
4. The World in a New Light
5. A Theoretical Manifesto for Green IT
Index