Philosophies of Technologies

6“Digital Technology”, Revealing Intersections between Epistemology, Political Philosophy and Philosophy of Technology

6.1. Introduction

Taking a closer look at technology calls for humility: we come across inventions and human expertise in various centuries and places. Dictionaries explain that we must reconcile artistic gesture and repetition, and that, since Galileo, it has been difficult to think of technology without science¹.

Body technology (walking, swimming) (Mauss 1983)² reminds us that culture also refers to society, and that our daily lives are imbued with rhythms, social habits and learned behavior. This last expression is the definition of culture by anthropologist Ruth Benedict. This brings us close to a paradox: culture – defined as erudition or as the sign of a wider group – is often presented as being antinomic with technology (Jeanneney 2005). Malinowski has also been criticized for his functionalism (Malinowski 1968). Does sociology resolve this antinomy? The latter sometimes examines how technology is used to maintain or invent forms of enslavement (Casilli 2019). However, with a few exceptions (Durkheim, Bourdieu and Chamboredon), its fields rarely cross paths with technology.

Technology also includes politics. Not just as a practical solution to its “service” (“social distancing”), but also as its vision: the focus on the determinism of innovation (“new technology will transform society”) has been nurtured by most governments for a century, Edgerton tells ...