Technology in the Western Political Tradition ed. by Arthur M. Melzer, et al

Abstract

technology and culture Book Reviews 175 considers “Elegies for the Book” (the title of chap. 8) misplaced rather than premature. Lanham reminds us of the attempt in the past few centuries to make expressive media transparent, so that they are unnoticed in the presentation of the underlying (even our metaphors betray us!) ideas. Credibility is now seen to diminish if attempts at persuasiveness are discernible: truth must be naked if it is to be recognized. Pointing out that this seeming nakedness is itself a veneer, Lanham suggests that we restore the full range of rhetorical and artistic devices to our repertoire. Our electronic assistants can provide a buffet of such graphic and auditory supplies as images, typefaces, layouts, and vocal and instrumental sounds. As always, it is up to us to deploy them in an effective manner and to evaluate presentations made to us. The great challenge of the university curriculum, as Lanham sees it, is the preparation of students for life in this new environment. Not the technical competence of the programmer, but the humanistic intimacy experienced by the artist and connoisseur, is the literacy objective he sets before us. As he puts it: “Shouldn’t we be after a generalized ability to manipulate symbolic reality? In our society, this symbolic reality depends on precisely the rich signal of mixed word, sound and image we have been considering” (p. 229). Lanham is an expert stylist, as might be expected, and this book is at once a pleasure to read and a powerful stimulus to thought. Throughout, he engages the work of other scholars, making this an excellent entry to the literature. At the same time, the power and depth of his presentation will not disappoint the knowledgeable reader. Bayla Singer Dr. Singer is an independent scholar resident in Florida. Her most recent publica­ tion, Blueprint for Change: The Life and Times of Lewis Latimer (coedited with Janet M. Schneider), was prepared to accompany an exhibit of the same name that she curated for the Queens Borough Public Library. Technology in the Western Political Tradition. Edited by Arthur M. Melzer, Jerry Weinberger, and M. Richard Zinman. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1993. Pp. xv + 333; notes, index. $38.50 (cloth); $15.95 (paper). In 1970, for a proposed journal symposium, Leo Strauss was in­ vited to contribute an article on technology and political philosophy extending his previous allusions to this subject. Strauss replied that although the issue deserved attention, he was unable to do the article, and the inquirer should contact either Joseph Cropsey or Leon Kass. Cropsey demurred because of other work, and Kass deferred on the grounds that he was not yet up to such a task. Technology in the Western Political Tradition, with an extended introduction on “The Problem 176 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE of Technology” by Kass, and twelve other essays, many either written by Strauss’s students or making explicit references to his work, finally fulfills that request of a quarter century ago. This remarkable book grew out of a 1989—90 Symposium on Sci­ ence, Reason, and Modern Democracy at Michigan State University. Indeed, moving from Kass’s introduction to Arthur Melzer’s conclud­ ing “The Problem with ‘The Problem of Technology,’ ” it reads more like a Platonic dialogue than a conference proceedings. For Kass, to approach technology as a problem in fact exemplifies the problem, since it illustrates how much technological thinking now informs our culture. For Melzer, criticisms of technology from both the socialist Left and the romantic Right point toward “our specific duty to free ourselves . . . not only from the deification but also the demonization of [technology]” (p. 320). As a whole, and as an attempt to do precisely that, the volume is divided into two parts. Part 1 contains five papers dealing with “The Emergence of Modern Technology,” and part 2 has seven more on “The Destiny of Modern Technology.” Where technology comes from and where it is going—these are the two big questions for poli­ tics. Although not historical questions alone, they demand historical investigation. Both parts thus display a solid acquaintance with the basic literature in the history of technology, but go further to provide...