A framework is proposed for analyzing technologies and technological systems at several levels, a primary level at which natural objects and people are decontextualized to identify. Feenberg is considered one of the key second generation critical theorists, with a keen interest in philosophy of technology. Integrating educational technology into teaching 5th edition. He is the author of critical theory of technology, alternative modernity, questioning technology, transforming technology, and heidegger and marcuse. Critical theory of technology combines insights from philosophy of technology and constructivist technology studies. It was easier then than now to make a case for radical change.
Its most famous members were max horkheimer, theodor adorno, her bert marcuse, and walter benjamin. Critical theory argues that technology is not a thing in the ordinary sense of the term, but an ambivalent process of development suspended between different possibilities. One the one hand, natural science, feenberg asserts, has carved out a space for itself that is specialized, insular, expertled and, as such, far more independent. The major critical theorists, adorno, horkheimer, and marcuse, argued that we live in a technocratic society with a culture colonized by technical.
Conceptions of innovation in relation to science and technology policy andrew jam ison definitions and distinctions for something that is widely considered to be of crucial, even strategic, importance, it is remarkable that there is so little agreement as to what is meant by technological innovation. Apr 21, 20 critical theorists jodi dean and andrew feenberg recently took to vancouvers simon fraser university to debate the political merits of the internet. He is the author of critical theory of technology, alternative modernity, questioning technology, transforming technology, and. Environmentalism, information technology, and medical advances testify to technology s crucial importance. This volume explores andrew feenbergs work in critical theory. Science and technology studies can play a role in the renewal of this approach.
Critical theory of technology combines insights from philosophy of tech nology and constructivist technology studies. Questioning technology convinces us that it is vital that we learn more about technology the better to live with it and to manage it. Perhaps the most developed contemporary critical theory of technology is contained in the works of andrew feenberg including transforming technology 2002. This conversation explores the relationships between information tech. The basis of feenbergs critical theory of technology is a concept of dialectical technological rationality he terms instrumentalization theory. Critical theory of technology simon fraser university.
Critical theory and the thought of andrew feenberg. Neil postman and marshall mcluhan take a substantive approach to television, for example, by asserting that the design of the medium changes that way american. Andrew feenberg s wonderful critical theory of technology contains a passage that resonated strongly with a recent trend in video games. Rejecting such popular solutions as economic simplicity or spiritual renewal, feenberg presents. All content in this area was uploaded by andrew feenberg on apr 19. Dean argues that the everincreasing commodification of the internet presents a distraction from real politics in the form of liking statuses and a commodity fetishism directed towards the rapid exchange of communication. Andrew feenbergs questioning technology 1999 is his third book in a series of studies which undertake to provide critical theoretical and democratic political perspectives to engage technology in the contemporary era. Andrew feenberg is professor of philosophy at san diego state university. Skinner learning is based on the notion of operant. Andrew feenberg s questioning technology 1999 is his third book in a series of studies which undertake to provide critical theoretical and democratic political perspectives to engage technology in the contemporary era.
They focused on the progress, limitations, and future directions of tam. Values in design asks how do we ensure a place for values alongside technical standards such as speed, efficiency, and reliability as criteria by which we judge the quality and. Feenberg is considered a world authority on the critical theory of technology, and a few of his books are published by oxford press. These accounts appear painfully thin compared to the rich complexity revealed in social studies of technology. Critical theory and the thought of andrew feenberg download. The impact of technology on education theory sciencedirect. Best known through ellul and heidegger, the substantive theory, according to feenberg, argues that technology constitutes a new type of cultural system that restructures the entire social world as an object of control 1991. Eugene feenberg 121 pursued for the helium fluids were subsequently applied with success by others to nuclear problems, the domain to which he had earlier contributed so much through his shell theory research. Technology integration and learning theory nada aldoobie university of northern colorado learning process is one of the most important processes that happened to human beings. In fact, learning process is happening all the time even formally or informally, even more directly or indirectly. Reviewarticle on andrew feenberg, questioning technology. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. In this introduction to the study of the philosophy and politics of technology, andrew feenberg argues that technology is much more embedded and central to our social and political structures than we realise.
From the 1990s through the present, andrew feenberg has systematically developed a critical theory of technology that charts the development and increasing importance of technology in all facets of our lives and that develops a critical theory that articulates how technologies can serve as instruments or domination or emancipation and democratization. A critical theory revisited 2 by andrew feenberg isbn. Andrew feenbergs questioning technology is a cutting edge philosophy of technology which provocatively argues for the democratization of technology and subjecting technology to democratic debate and reconstruction. According to andrew feenberg, a substantive theory of technology assumes that a technology s design will fundamentally change the ways in which an organization or a culture operates. Critical theorists jodi dean and andrew feenberg recently took to vancouvers simon fraser university to debate the political merits of the internet. Andrew feenberg, critical theory, and the critique of technology. All content in this area was uploaded by andrew feenberg on oct 02, 2017.
Instrumentalization theory much philosophy of technology offers very abstract and unhistorical accounts of the essence of technology. Questioning technology 1st edition andrew feenberg. Buy critical theory of technology new edition by andrew feenberg isbn. According to feenberg, in a machine society, we encounter the new narcissism, which is an intensified pursuit of personal pleasure by individuals who have less identity than ever before. The defeat of communism followed by ten years of economic growth has discredited social criticism. This ambivalence of technology is distinguished from neutrality by the role it attributes to social values in the design. A critical theory of technology applied to the public. We see that the rise and advance of information technology accounts for technologies ultimately crucial social and political position. Critical theory of technology by andrew feenberg, 1991. Yet technology has the distinguishing features sketched above and these have nor mative implications. A framework is proposed for analyzing technologies and technological systems at several levels, a primary.
He has made a vital contribution to critical theory in ways that remain of interest. Technology, power and democracy with technology, andrew feenberg argues that technological determinism is not a very well founded concept by illustrating that two of the founding theses of determinism are easily questionable and in doing so calls for what he calls democratic rationalization feenberg. Social critics claim that we must choose between this way of life and human values. Critical theory of technology and sts andrew feenberg, 2017. The key distinction between science and technology, in the context of a critical theory of technology, has to do with their divergent relationships to the public and to politics. He leaves the reader to wonder how much power technology exactly has in determining cultural and social values and whether the. In this extraordinary introduction to the study of the philosophy of technology, andrew feenberg argues that techonological design is central to the social and political structure of modern societies. Critical theory of technology challenges that pessimistic cliche. Critical theory of technology hardcover october 17, 1991. The critical theory of technology the critique of scientifictechnical rationality reason and domination 2 toward a successor. These remarks, adapted from the preface to the previous edition, critical theory of technology, were written ten years ago.
Andrew feenberg, critical theory of technology philpapers. Sts is based on a critique of the very same technocratic and scientistic assumptions against which critical theory argues. One of the most important books on technology in the present era. Gene also had a pedagogical interest in the theory of special relativity and he occasionally published on the topic. The substantive theory of technology in contrast to the instrumental theory is the substantive theory of technology. Andrew feenberg is professor and canada research chair in philosophy of technology at the school of communication at simon fraser university. This volume is a revised edition of critical theory of technology, published 1991 by oxford university press. In critical theory of technology 1991, feenberg draws.
According to andrew feenberg, a substantive theory of technology assumes that a technologys design will fundamentally change the ways in which an organization or a culture operates. The bible describes humans as created beings and as such they are enjoined not to. Andrew feenberg s questioning technology is a cutting edge philosophy of technology which provocatively argues for the democratization of technology and subjecting technology to democratic debate and reconstruction. Minimalist marxism exploitation or domination labor process theory three critiques of technology the preconditions of socialism. I was a mediocre student and i have actually read this book and took the class philosophy of technology from andy feenberg at sdsu. The parliament of things technology and the end of history instrumental and substantive theories of technology technology bound and unbound critical theory of technology civilizational change the critical alternatives part i. He critiques the instrumental theory of technology that views technology as neutral tools, and the substantive theory that views technology as a system that. Jan 01, 2002 in transforming technology 2002, andrew feenberg proposes and develops a critical theory of technology, drawing on the intellectual tradition of the frankfurt school, marx, and foucault. Some technology applications, such as webbased learning and multimedia production, are associated with inquirybased learning. The critical theory of technology draws on sts while placing the issues in the context of the 2 frankfurt school s critique of modernity.
Philosophy of technology at the crossroads online article by andrew feenberg discussing heidegger, habermas and borgmann. Thoroughly revised, this new edition of critical theory of technology rethinks the relationships between technology, rationality, and democracy, arguing that the degradation of laboras well as of many environmental, educational, and political systemsis rooted in the social values that preside over technological development. Library of congress cataloginginpublication data feenberg, andrew transforming technology. They focused on the progress, limitations, and future directions of.
This pathbreaking book argues that the roots of the degradation of labor. Critical theory was developed by german marxists in the 1920s and 1930s. All content in this area was uploaded by andrew feenberg on oct 17, 2017. Pdf a critical theory of technology andrew feenberg. Pdf critical theory of technology combines insights from philosophy of technology and constructivist technology studies. Critical theory of technology by andrew feenberg, 9780195068559, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. Although the reh and adaptive learning theory have been applied in many nontechnology contexts, this research is among the first that applies rational expectations and adaptive learning theory to issues related to technology adoption. Andrew feenberg andrew feenberg is professor and canada research chair in philosophy of technology at the school of communication at simon fraser university. Critical theory of technology andrew feenberg publisher. Critical theory and the thought of andrew feenberg springerlink. Andrew feenbergs wonderful critical theory of technology contains a passage that resonated strongly with a recent trend in video games. In transforming technology 2002, andrew feenberg proposes and develops a critical theory of technology, drawing on the intellectual tradition of the frankfurt school, marx, and foucault. He is the author of alternative modernity, critical theory of technology, lukacs. Technology and human finitude introduction finitude is an important theme in both the judaic and greek sources of the western ethical tradition.