Has the Philosophy of Technology Arrived? A State‐of‐the‐Art Review

• Published in: Philosophy of science Vol. 71; no. 1; pp. 117 - 131
• Main Author: Ihde, Don
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago, IL The University of Chicago Press 01.01.2004; University of Chicago Press; Cambridge University Press
• Subjects: American philosophy; Anthologies; Bibliographies; Computer technology; Culture; Environment; Environmental technology; Epistemology; General history of technology; General points; History of science and technology; Inventions; Modern philosophy; Philosophy; Philosophy of science; Postmodern philosophy; Pragmatism; Science; Technology; Technology transfer; Traditions; Century 20; Philosophy of technology; Bioethics; Environment; Science philosophy; Sociology of science; Bibliography; Constructivism
• ISSN: 0031-8248; 1539-767X
• DOI: 10.1086/381417

Using the occasion of the publication of a Blackwell anthology in the philosophy of technology,Philosophy of Technology: The Technological Condition(2003), as a key to the contemporary role of this subdiscipline, this article reviews the current state‐of‐this‐art. Both philosophy of science and philosophy of technology are twentieth century inventions, but each has followed a somewhat different set of philosophical traditions and pursued sometimes divergent questions. Here the primary developments of recent philosophy of technology are examined with emphasis upon issues which might also be of greater interest to philosophers of science. These include epistemological, but also environmental and cultural issues. The bibliographical spread includes references to some fifty recent books in the field.