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Technological Determinism

Technological Determinism . Major Questions of Philosophy of Technology. What is technology? Is technology ethically neutral? Is the process of technological change essentially benign? (Today) Is the process of technological change even under our control?

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Technological Determinism

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  1. Technological Determinism

  2. Major Questions of Philosophy of Technology • What is technology? • Is technology ethically neutral? • Is the process of technological change essentially benign? • (Today) Is the process of technological change even under our control? • (Next) What are our ethical duties regarding technology and the process of technological change?

  3. “Determinism” The idea that what happens has to happen as a result of some causes (eg. natural laws, divine plan, human nature, social forces) Scientific/Physical Determinism sees the world as being like a machine determined by the laws of nature Many deterministic theories are incompatible with the notion of individual freedom

  4. Economic/Historical Determinism Karl Marx believed that the way people live and their beliefs are determined by “the relations of production” "The handmill gives you society with the feudal lord; the steam mill, society with the industrial capitalist." Marx’s theory is also known by the name “dialectical materialism” or “historical materialism” Theory was/is highly influential in the social sciences throughout the 20th century

  5. The Legacy of Marx According to Karl Marx, human thought and values aren’t what drive the process of historical change, rather historical change is driven by physical changes in “the means of production” (i.e. tools) and the “relation of production” (i.e. systems of organization of production like feudalism, capitalism, etc.) Marxists: “Infrastructure” (the means & relations of production) determines “Superstructure” (our conscious lives, beliefs and values, such as religions and political “ideologies”)

  6. Examples of Marx’s Materialist (determinist) Historical Dialectic Ancient Greece & Rome: Mass professional “hoplite” fighting  notions of “citizenship” and republican “democracy” (rule by “demos” or citizen farmers) Middle Ages: Invention of Mounted Shock Combat (stirrup)  development of feudal system & ideals of “Duty”, “fealty” & “chivalry” Industrial Revolution: Risky capital intensive factory production  Ideals of “entrepreneurialism” and the “work ethic”

  7. Technological Determinism Many 20th century historians and social scientists have modified/elaborated on the theory of historical determinism to pinpoint technology as the fundamental source driving change in history It is like Marx’s theory of economic determinism, but does not place emphasis on economic structures as the source of social change, but more broadly on technologies and technological systems and the “missing masses” of “mundane artifacts”

  8. The “Technological Imperative” • The expression of the belief that society will always take full advantage of any technological capacity and will in turn be shaped by these technologies (i.e. an expression of a belief in tech determinism”) • Egs. “You can’t stop progress”, “change is inevitable,” “we must embrace change,” “technology is transforming society” • Expresses the idea that the idea of an “arms race” is really applicable to every kind of technology

  9. Other Examples Historical/Technological Determinism? • Pill and the Sexual revolution • Printing Press and the Reformation • John Kenneth Galbraith and the rise of advertising and “consumerism” • Agricultural revolution and the concept of “property” and the development of warfare, armies and state

  10. What about free will? Rosalind Williams: “For human beings the production of technology is as natural as the production of enzymes for bacteria” Judith Wajcman: “a gender analysis shows how preferences for different technologies are shaped by a set of social arrangements that reflect men’s power….This issue is explored in abundant scholarship on how technology as culture is implicated in the construction of subject identity for both sexes”

  11. Ranks of gunners at the Battle of Nagashino in 1575

  12. Closed Japan (1631–1854) • The internal wars in Japan finally won by Tokugawa Shogunate that would control Japan for the following 250 years • From the mid 17th century, Japan decided to close itself to interaction with the West • The proliferation of guns was severely controlled, leading to their near-total abandonment.

  13. Samurai in armour, 1860s.

  14. Commodore Perry of the U.S. Navy compelling the opening of Japan to the West with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854.

  15. Mennonites and Amish

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