Against Nature: The Metaphysics of Information Systems

David’s book ‘Against Nature’ was published in May 2018 by Routledge, in their Focus series for short, punchy new work. At 110pages this book aims to get a meaty snapshot of David’s thinking across to readers beginning to become aware of his work. Accessibly written for a wide audience of scholars, thought leaders and the curious, this book combines David’s interests in the digital business world, political and metaphysical philosophy, and what history can tell us about how we came to be damaging our home, with signposts for how we might survive this critical time.

Abstract:

“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.“

Copies are available from all good bookshops, and direct from the Publisher, Routledge.

Kreps, D., (2018) Against Nature: The Metaphysics of Information Systems London: Routledge. ISBN 9780815377757

eBook DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351233828