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Engineering, Development and Philosophy pp 379–395Cite as

Lynn White Revisited: Religious and Cultural Backgrounds for Technological Development

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Part of the book series: Philosophy of Engineering and Technology ((POET,volume 11))

Abstract

Since the beginning of the awareness of the environmental crisis, studies have tried to trace back the historical and ideological roots of industrial evolution. Many of these studies indicated elements of the Judeo-Christian tradition as at least co-responsible. Some 40 years later, this chapter overviews some strands of the discussions these studies have provoked, especially concerning the alleged anthropocentrism of Judaism and Christianity and their disenchanting attitude toward nature. These traditional ideas are confronted with insights from Marcel Gauchet’s philosophy of religion, with inputs from other religions, and with empirical data from recent surveys.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In the English version of Gauchet’s book, The Disenchantment of the World, “sortie” is translated as “departure”; this translation however does not fully render the ambiguity of the original French “sortie” (Cloots 2008, p.7).

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks professors Yanming An (Clemson University), Hans Ausloos (Université Catholique de Louvain), and Bénédicte Lemmelijn (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) for their willingness to provide useful information for this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Industrial Engineering Department, Katholieke Hogeschool Sint-Lieven, Ghent, Belgium

    Martin Meganck Ph.D.

  2. Centre for Science, Technology and Ethics, KU Leuven, Belgium

    Martin Meganck Ph.D.

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  1. Martin Meganck Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Martin Meganck Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Institute of Business and Technology, Aarhus University, Birk Centerpark 15, Herning, DK-7400, Denmark

    Steen Hyldgaard Christensen

  2. , Dept of Liberal Arts & Int'l Studies, Colorado School of Mines, Illinois Street 1500, Golden, 80401, Colorado, USA

    Carl Mitcham

  3. , Department of Social Sciences, Graduate University of Chinese Academy o, 52 Sanlihe Rd, Beijing, 100864, China, People's Republic

    Bocong Li

  4. , Department of Languages, Clemson University, Strode Tower 717, Clemson, 29634-0535, South Carolina, USA

    Yanming An

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Meganck, M. (2012). Lynn White Revisited: Religious and Cultural Backgrounds for Technological Development. In: Christensen, S., Mitcham, C., Li, B., An, Y. (eds) Engineering, Development and Philosophy. Philosophy of Engineering and Technology, vol 11. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5282-5_23

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5282-5_23

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