Books by Brad J Kallenberg

Both engineering and human living take place in a messy world, one chock full of unknowns and contingencies. ""Design reasoning"" is the way engineers cope with real-world contingency. Because of the messiness, books about engineering design cannot have ""ideal solutions"" printed in the back in the same way that mathematics textbooks can. Design reasoning does not produce a single, ideally correct answer to a given problem but rather generates a wide variety of rival solutions that vie against each other for their relative level of ""satisfactoriness."" A reasoning process analogous to design is needed in ethics. Since the realm of interpersonal relations is itself a fluid and highly contingent real-world affair, design reasoning offers the promise of a useful paradigm for ethical reasoning.This volume undertakes two tasks. First, it employs design reasoning to illustrate how technological artifacts can be assessed for their inherent moral properties. Second, it uses the design paradigm as a means for bringing engineering ethics into conversation with Christian theology in order to show how each can be for the other a catalyst for the revolutionary task of living by design.""By Design first draws a parallel between the discipline of engineering and the discipline of ethics by identifying both as areas that (to use the author''s term) are ''messy,'' and hence require the use of heuristics. It is extremely well written, well researched, and well illustrated, with numerous authoritative examples carefully chosen from engineering and religion. I highly recommend this book.""--Billy V. Koen, Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin""Kallenberg''s understanding and use of the design process allows readers to embrace problems of increasing ethical density. Not only will this appeal to engineers, but it will guide them toward appreciating all the gray areas in real decision making.""--Andrew P. Murray, Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of DaytonBrad J. Kallenberg is Professor of Theology at the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio. He is author of Ethics as Grammar (2001), Live to Tell (2002), God and Gadgets (2011), and numerous scholarly articles.

Technologies are deeply embedded in the modern West. What would our lives be like without asphalt, glass, gasoline, electricity, window screens, or indoor plumbing? We naturally praise technology when it is useful and bemoan it when it is not. But there is much more to technology than the usefulness of this or that artifact. Unfortunately, we tend not to consider the inherently social and moral character of technology. As a result, we are prone to overlook the effects of technology on our spiritual lives. This book investigates the role technology plays in helping and hampering our Christian practice and witness.""Only Brad Kallenberg could have written this book. Drawing on an engineering background, schooled by Wittgenstein''s philosophical work, and shaped by Christian theological convictions, he enables us to see how technology can exercise power over us to our detriment without asking us to abandon technology in service to human life.""--Stanley Hauerwas, Duke Divinity School""Kallenberg does a masterful job of helping his reader see the blind spots of modern, technological culture. His insights are provocative, instructive, and often redemptive. You will find yourself asking a whole new set of questions after reading this book--questions you might wish you started asking long ago!""--Rick LangerTalbot School of Theology/Biola University""Brad Kallenberg brings a strong philosophical and theological acumen to God and Gadgets. The very idea that technology is a mixed blessing is a true act of Christian witness in a culture immersed in all that is ''new-fangled'' and thus considered almost in god-like terms. Kallenberg addresses in trenchant and true ways the claims of God and the Gospel on our gadget-infested culture. His prophetic voice rings true from a Christian perspective, much as an earlier philosopher, Ernesto Grassi, did in his insistence that technology has its own set of hazards. This is a must read for preachers and other scholars in our time.""--Rodney Wallace KennedyBaptist House of Studies, United Theological SeminaryBrad J. Kallenberg is Associate Professor of Theology at the University of Dayton He is the author of Live to Tell: Evangelism for a Postmodern Age (2002) and Ethics as Grammar: Changing the Postmodern Subject (2001).

Description:Technologies are deeply embedded in the modern West. What would our lives be like without asphalt, glass, gasoline, electricity, window screens, or indoor plumbing? We naturally praise technology when it is useful and bemoan it when it is not. But there is much more to technology than the usefulness of this or that artifact. Unfortunately, we tend not to consider the inherently social and moral character of technology. As a result, we are prone to overlook the effects of technology on our spiritual lives. This book investigates the role technology plays in helping and hampering our Christian practice and witness.Endorsements:""Only Brad Kallenberg could have written this book. Drawing on an engineering background, schooled by Wittgenstein''s philosophical work, and shaped by Christian theological convictions, he enables us to see how technology can exercise power over us to our detriment without asking us to abandon technology in service to human life.""--Stanley Hauerwas, Duke Divinity School""Kallenberg does a masterful job of helping his reader see the blind spots of modern, technological culture. His insights are provocative, instructive, and often redemptive. You will find yourself asking a whole new set of questions after reading this book--questions you might wish you started asking long ago!""--Rick LangerTalbot School of Theology/Biola University""Brad Kallenberg brings a strong philosophical and theological acumen to God and Gadgets. The very idea that technology is a mixed blessing is a true act of Christian witness in a culture immersed in all that is ''new-fangled'' and thus considered almost in god-like terms. Kallenberg addresses in trenchant and true ways the claims of God and the Gospel on our gadget-infested culture. His prophetic voice rings true from a Christian perspective, much as an earlier philosopher, Ernesto Grassi, did in his insistence that technology has its own set of hazards. This is a must read for preachers and other scholars in our time.""--Rodney Wallace KennedyBaptist House of Studies, United Theological SeminaryAbout the Contributor(s):Brad J. Kallenberg is Associate Professor of Theology at the University of Dayton He is the author of Live to Tell: Evangelism for a Postmodern Age (2002) and Ethics as Grammar: Changing the Postmodern Subject (2001).