Tracing the changing meaning of "technology" from ancient times to our own, Mitcham identifies the most important traditions of critical analysis of technology: the engineering approach, which assumes the centrality of technology in human life; and the humanities approach, which is concerned with its moral and cultural boundaries.

Mitcham bridges these two traditions through an analysis of discussions of engineering design, of the distinction between tools and machines, and of engineering science itself. He looks at technology as it is experienced in everyday lifeas material objects (from kitchenware to computers), as knowledge ( including recipes, rules, theories, and intuitive "know-how"), as activity (design, construction, and use), and as volition (knowing how to use technology and understanding its consequences). By elucidating these multiple aspects, Mitcham establishes criteria for a more comprehensive analysis of ethical issues in applications of science and technology.

This book will guide anyone wanting to reflect on technology and its moral implications.

Introduction: Thinking about Technology

Background and Standpoint

Collections and Conferences

Themes and Variations

1: Engineering Philosophy of Technology

Mechanical Philosophy and the Philosophy of Manufactures

Ernst Kapp and Technology as Organ Projection

Technology and Politics according to Peter Engelmeier and Others

Friedrich Dessauer and Technology as Encounter with the Kantian Thing-in-Itself

The Intellectual Attraction and Power of the Technical

2: Humanities Philosophy of Technology

Lewis Mumford: The Myth of the Machine

Jose Ortega y Gasset: Meditation on Technics

Martin Heidegger: The Question concerning Technology

Excursus on Ortega and Heidegger

Jacques Ellul: Technology as the Wager of the Century

3: From Engineering to Humanities Philosophy of Technology

The Two Philosophies in Tension: A Dialogue

Two Attempts at Reconciliation

The Question of Marxist Philosophy of Technology

A Brief for the Primacy of Humanities Philosophy of Technology

4: The Philosophical Questioning of Technology

Science and Ideas

Technology and Ideas

Conceptual Issues

Logic and Epistemological Issues

Ethical Issues

Issues of Political Philosophy

Religious Issues

Metaphysical Issues

Questioning the Questions

5: Philosophical Questions about Techne

Observations on the History of Technology

Techne and Technology

Philosophy of Technology versus Philosophia Technes

6: From Philosophy to Technology

Engineering Objections to Humanities Philosophy of Technology

Philosophical Objections to Humanities Philosophy of Technology

Two Usages of the Term "Technology"

The Extension of "Technology"

A Framework for Philosophical Analysis

7: Types of Technology as Object

The Spectrum of Artifacts

Types of Machines

The Machine (and Object) as Process

The Engineering Analysis of Machines

Physical, Chemical, and Biological Artifacts

Animal Artifacts, Social Artifacts, the Planet as Artifact

On the Human Experience of Tools and Machines

The Social Dimension of Artifacts

Toward a Phenomenology of Artifacts

8: Types of Technology as Knowledge

Cognitive Development and Myth in Technology

The Phenomenology of Technical Skill

Maxims, Laws, Rules, and Theories

Against Technology as Applied Science

Cybernetics

Ancient and Modern Technology

9: Types of Technology as Activity

Technology as Activity

The Action of Making

The Process of Using

Work: From Alienated Labor to "Action into Nature"

Again, Ancient versus Modern Technology

10: Types of Technology as Volition

Philosophies of Technology as Volition

Volition as a Conceptual Problem in Relation to Technology

Philosophies of Volition in Relation to Technology

Toward Ethics

Technology and Weakness of the Will

Conclusion: Continuing to Think about Technology

The Argument Revisited

Science, Technology, and Society Studies

Epilogue: Three Ways of Being-with Technology

Being-with: From Persons to Technics

Ancient Skepticism

Enlightenment Optimism

Romantic Uneasiness

Notes

References

Index