What is “technology”?

Abstract

A technician, reading works on philosophy of technology, usually has the impression that the authors do not have any idea what technology is and write about an imaginary entity. There are many examples, starting with an evidently anti-technical book (Postman 1992) about technopoly, where the author does not explain in which sense he uses the word “technology” and actually writes about a socio-economic system of applications of contemporary technology, without clearly making this distinction. Another example might be a recent, excellent book of Darin Barney, Network Society (2002), correct in the conclusion that the thesis about a domination of network society might be premature. However, in these parts of Network Society where the author writes about his understanding of the essence of technology and the opinions of philosophy of technology about this essence, an absolute lack of understanding of the object of discussion is evident: whether he writes about technology as such, or about technological artefacts, or about a socio-economic system of production and utilization of technology products, or about fascination of people with the possibilities of technology. To express all these possible meanings, and there are more, a key-word “technology” is used.