Cover of Techné: Research in Philosophy and Technology
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Displaying: 1-6 of 6 documents


1. Techné: Research in Philosophy and Technology: Volume > 13 > Issue: 1
Vincent Bontems Gilbert Simondon’s genetic “mecanology”and the understanding of laws of technical evolution
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Since the 1930’s, several attempts have been made to develop a general theory of technical systems or objects and their evolution: in France, Jacques Lafitte, André Leroi-Gourhan, Bertrand Gille, Yves Deforge, and Gilbert Simondon are the main representatives of this trend. In this paper, we focus on the work of Simondon: his analysis of technical progress is based on the hypothesis that technology has its own laws and that customer demand has no paramount influence upon the evolution of technical systems. We first describe the process Simondon called “concretization” and compare it with the process of “idealization” as defined by Genrich Altshuller. We then explain how the progress of technical lineages can be characterized as following a specific rhythm of relaxation and how it thus obeys a “law” of evolution in the industrial context. Simondon’s theoretical approach, although similar to some aspects of methodologies of conception, emphasized a more accurate understanding of technical progress over possible operational applications. Simondon never intended to optimize the engineer’s tasks from an economic point of view and, in fact, his conception of technical progress can be considered as independent from the capitalistic trend of innovation. However, the philosophy of Simondon provides a better understanding of what is at stake theoretically in the modeling of laws of technical evolution.
2. Techné: Research in Philosophy and Technology: Volume > 13 > Issue: 1
Ejvind Hansen Communicative In-Betweens of Email Communication
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In this paper I seek to deconstruct internet-based communication. I highlight Derrida’s focus on the margins and in-betweens of communication, and relate it to the genre of e-mail. I argue (i) that the silence between the dialogic turns becomes more marked, while (ii) the separation of present and previous statements becomes less marked. The visibility of the silence between the turns (i) can be a resource for increased awareness of how communicative exchanges are shaped by self­arrangements and -presentations. The dissolution of the separation between present and previous statements (ii) can be a source for unfruitful quarrels.
3. Techné: Research in Philosophy and Technology: Volume > 13 > Issue: 1
Viktor Binzberger Hermeneutic practices in software development: the case of Ada and Python
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This paper shows the relevance of hermeneutic philosophy to understand how info­communication technologies frame our contemporary lifeworld. It demonstrates that the programming languages are the result of collective interpretations of the general lifeworld of programmers, management and political decision-makers. By having been inscribed into the processes of language use, this general interpretation permeates the particular practices of understanding that are possible within the language framework.
4. Techné: Research in Philosophy and Technology: Volume > 13 > Issue: 1
Katrina Burt The Internet – Proposing an Infrastructure for the Philosophy of Virtualness
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This paper proposes a preliminary infrastructure for future philosophical discourse on the virtual, interactive, visual, top layer of the Internet. The paper begins by introducing thoughts on such words as real, virtual, reality, knowledge, and truth. Next, news summaries are provided illustrating some effects from the “real world” on the virtual part of the Internet, and vice versa. Subsequently, nine major categories of Internet variables are identified. Finally, over one hundred questions about the philosophical nature of the virtual part of the Internet are listed and are organized into fourteen categories.
book reviews
5. Techné: Research in Philosophy and Technology: Volume > 13 > Issue: 1
Bernadette Bensaude Vincent Nanotechnology and Society: Current and Emerging Ethical Issues
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6. Techné: Research in Philosophy and Technology: Volume > 13 > Issue: 1
Barbara Allen Democratizing Technology: Risk, Responsibility, and the Regulation of Chemicals
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