A Companion to the Philosophy of Technology

Chapter 12

The Interplay between Science and Technology

BART GREMMEN

Until the 1970s the debate on the science–technology relationship was dominated by theoretical issues from the philosophy of science. The history of technology had limited theoretical import, and sociology of technology was almost nonexistent. The development of both of these disciplines led to criticism of the subsumption schema (the domination of science over technology), and to the rise of the so-called interaction schema as an alternative schema. Although the interplay model belongs to the interaction schema, the interaction between scientific and technical practices is considered to be more than just a simple exchange of results between practices. Both kinds of practices are changed in some manner, yet each also maintains its uniqueness and integrity.

In 1965, Derek de Solla Price formulated one of the first versions of the interaction schema: science and technology as relatively independent but closely interacting activities. This interactive schema of the science–technology relationship must be seen, according to Barnes, as a major reorientation in our thinking about the science–technology relationship. We have to recognize science and technology to be on a par with each other. The interaction model is a model that captures much of current thinking; and, following Barnes, we can identify two necessary developments for the emergence of the interactive model. First, the recognition of science and technology ...