Distracted from Meaning: A Philosophy of Smartphones

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When our smartphones distract us, much more is at stake than a momentary lapse of attention. Our use of smartphones can interfere with the building-blocks of meaningfulness and the actions that shape our self-identity. By analyzing social interactions and evolving experiences, Roholt reveals the mechanisms of smartphone-distraction that impact our meaningful projects and activities. Roholts conception of meaning in life draws from a disparate group of philosophers Susan Wolf, John Dewey, Hubert Dreyfus, Martin Heidegger, and Albert Borgmann. Central to Roholts argument are what Borgmann calls focal practices: dinners with friends, running, a college seminar, attending sporting events. As a recurring example, Roholt develops the classification of musical instruments as focal things, contending that musical performance can be fruitfully understood as a focal practice. Through this exploration of what generates meaning in life, Roholt makes us rethink the place we allow smartphones to occupy in the everyday. But he remains cautiously optimistic. This thoughtful, needed interrogation of smartphones shows how we can establish a positive role for technologies within our lives.

Reviews

This is no neo-Luddite broadside against smartphones but a clear and careful philosophical exploration of what makes life meaningful and how smartphones use can either serve or undermine such meaning. Taking aim at the heart of our present age, Roholts book is consistently insightful and provocative. * Iain Thomson, Professor of Philosophy, University of New Mexico, USA *
Tiger Roholt's Distracted from Meaning is an invaluable account of how the smartphone revolution impedes our pursuit of a meaningful life. Exploring overlooked ways that smartphones replace genuine experiences with unfocused fragmentation, Roholt details how they routinely and cumulatively undercut their purpose as a device for social engagement. * Theodore Gracyk, Professor of Philosophy and Humanities, Minnesota State University Moorhead, USA *
Tiger Roholt explores how one of the most pervasive devices of the contemporary worldour smartphonescan distract us from the things that matter most. Distracted From Meaning is a useful guide for reorienting ourselves with regard to our devices, and reclaiming what is most meaningful in our lives. * Robert Rosenberger, Associate Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology, and President-Elect of the Society for Philosophy and Technology, USA *

Author Bio

Tiger C. Roholt is Associate Professor and Chair of the Philosophy Department at Montclair State University, USA. He is the author of Groove: A Phenomenology of Rhythmic Nuance (2014) and Key Terms in Philosophy of Art (2013).