Show Notes
What if the philosophy that built the modern technological world is the same philosophy making us powerless to control it?
In this episode of The Prometheans, Ali Zaka (AZD) sits down with Professor James Tartaglia — Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy at Keele University and one of the UK's most original philosophical voices — to unpack his landmark book Philosophy in a Technological World: Gods and Titans (Bloomsbury, 2020).
Tartaglia's argument is as bold as it is unsettling: the philosophy of materialism — the unexamined belief-system of our secular age — taught us to turn away from the gods and seek help from the Titans instead, reversing the moral of an ancient Greek myth and inspiring the building of today's technological civilisation. That same materialism now steers the direction of technological development while convincing us that this direction is inevitable. The result? What Tartaglia calls technoparalysis — our collective inability to exercise rational agency over the machines we have built.
The conversation ranges across:
• Why materialism is philosophy, not science — and why that matters • How academic philosophy became a parasite on physics • The concept of 'technoparalysis' and what it means for AI, surveillance, and biotechnology • The case for idealism: why consciousness, not matter, is the better model for reality • What the ancient Prometheus myth tells us about the modern world • Whether philosophy in schools can break the grip of technoparalysis • Connections between Tartaglia's idealism and Islamic metaphysics, Sufi thought, and the philosophy of religion • Artificial intelligence and the question of machine consciousness
Whether you approach these questions from philosophy, theology, or a concern for the human future in an age of runaway technology, this conversation will challenge your assumptions about what reality is, why it matters, and who — if anyone — is in control.
📖 Book: Philosophy in a Technological World: Gods and Titans — James Tartaglia (Bloomsbury, 2020) 🌐 Guest Website: www.jamestartaglia.com 🎓 Keele University: Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy
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