Philosophy of Technology: Origins in Ancient Greece

• Philosophy of technology addresses the value and viability of a technologically based society.
• It encourages reflection on rational modernity, questioning assumptions taken for granted.
• Japan's rapid modernization during the Meiji era provides a unique perspective, contrasting traditional ways with Western technology.

Origins in Ancient Greece

• Philosophy began by interpreting the world through the lens of human labor and transforming nature.
• The Greeks distinguished between physis (nature) and poiêsis (making), with techne representing knowledge associated with poiêsis.
• Techne included a purpose and meaning for artifacts, showing the "right way" objectively.
• Techne is the origin of modern terms for technique and technology.
• Existence (whether something is) and essence (what a thing is) appear to be two independent dimensions of being.
• The Greeks conceived nature on the model of artifacts produced by technical activity, the puzzle arises because of this understanding of technê.
• The distinction between existence and essence is obvious in poiêsis.
• Conversely, the distinction between existence and essence is not obvious for natural things
• Plato's theory of ideas, where concepts exist in an ideal realm prior to the thing itself, draws from the structure of techne.
• The Greeks imported purpose and meaning into nature, viewing it teleologically, thus the world is full of intentions.
• Humans work with nature's potentials to bring a meaningful world to fruition.
• Philosophy of technology began with the Greeks and is the foundation of all Western philosophy.

Technology in Modern Times

• Descartes and Bacon envisioned humanity as masters of nature through science and technology.
• Essences are now seen as conventional rather than real, and the purpose of things is something we create.
• The question addressed to being is how it works, leading advancements in science.
• In the 18th-century Enlightenment, the mechanistic worldview identified the universe with a clockwork mechanism.
• Technology became purely instrumental and value-free, serving subjective goals.
• Technology encounters nature as raw materials to be transformed into whatever we desire based on a mechanistic view.

Crisis of Civilization

• The goals of our technological society are not specified in a knowledge of some sort as they were to the Greeks, leading to this state.
• Modernity's aimlessness is increasingly recognized due to events ranging from catastrophes to wars.
• Philosophy of technology emerges as a critique during this time.

Contemporary Perspectives

• The different attitudes are mapped out in a chart where technology is grouped by autonomous vs. humanly controlled and neutral vs. value-laden.
• Instrumentalism is when human control and value neutrality intersect, where technology is a tool to satisfy needs with a liberal faith in progress.
• Determinism is a widely held view in social science where the driving force of history is advancement, it shapes society.
• Humans must adapt to technology as the most significant expression of our humanity.
• Substantivism attributes substantive values to technology and it embodies a specific conception of the good life.
• Substantive theory poses the question of whether technology is more like a religion or money.
• When you decide to use technology you're choosing a different way of life, which has values that exclude alternative ways.
• Substantive theorists say that technology is not simply instrumental to whatever values you hold.

Critical Theory

• Critical theory of technology recognizes the catastrophic consequences of technological development but still sees a promise of greater freedom in technology
• The problem is a failure to devise appropriate institutions for humans to have control.
• Critical theory agrees with substantivism that is value-laden, and that is controllable.
• The values can stem from socially specific concepts.
• The values in technology are socially specific and are not adequately represented by efficiency and control.
• Modern societies must all aim at efficiency, but to claim that significant values can not be realized is to overlook differences between them.
• The substantivist critique helps us to understand that technologies are not neutral tools.
• People protest or innovate which promises greater participation and democratic control in the future.
• A trend emerges toward greater participation in decisions about design and development.