Technological Determinism

Autonomous Technology

Ellul: Not necessarily so, but certainly taking on such characteristics.

What makes technology seem autonomous?

Langdon Winner: Autonomous Technology==> Lack of conscious control

Jacques Ellul: The Technological Order

False Problems

Real Problems

Can humans (and which ones) remain the masters in a world of means: Who decides? Can a new civilization appear inclusive of technique?

Traditional "Solutions"

The Problem Will Solve Itself The Problem Demands a Modification of the Whole of Humanity Intermediate: Teilhard de Chardin- "Spirit has contrived Technique as a means of organizing dispersed matter..." An end stage to the process of evolution- unification. "Conscious evolution"??

Ellul rejects all of these!

McGinn: Value of the Position of Technological Determinism?

Alternatives to Technological Determinism: Agency, Myth, and Dereification. Understanding of Technology as a Social Phenomenon: The Social Construction of Technology

URL: http://www.umsl.edu/~keelr/280/tecdeterm.html
Owner: Robert O. Keel: rok@umsl.edu
Last Updated: Wednesday, January 27, 2016 8:20