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The Intricate Web of Technological Existence: A Short Essay on the Philosophy of Technology
Paulo Alexandre e Castro
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DOI:10.17265/2159-5313/2025.03.001
Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
The philosophy of technology investigates technology’s nature, impact, and implications. Early thinkers like Ernst Kapp saw technology as human organ extensions, while John Dewey emphasized its pragmatic role in problem-solving. Heidegger, conversely, critiqued modern technology’s “framing” of nature, a concern echoed by Jacques Ellul’s view of technique as autonomous and by Herbert Marcuse on technology’s role in social control. Don Ihde explored how technology mediates human perception, and Bruno Latour developed actor-network theory, viewing artifacts as active agents. And many other contemporary thinkers like Bernard Stiegler, Paul Virilio, Shannon Vallor, and Yuk Hui continue to broaden the field, addressing ethics, speed, and diverse “cosmotechnics”. This evolving and dynamic field remains crucial for navigating our technologically shaped world, and therefore, to analyze technology’s ethical, social, and existential implications for our world. This essay is a state of the art about this delicate relationship.
philosophy of technology, essence of technology, human-technology relations, technique
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