-What does he mean when he refers to technologies as “life forms”? (chapter 1)
His ultimate and ever present question being asked throughout his book is, "How can we limit modern technology to match our best sense of who we are and the kind of world we would like to build?" (xi), since the "basic task for a philosophy of technology is to examine critically the nature and significance of artificial aids to human activity" (4).
-"The basic task for a philosophy of technology is to examine critically the nature and significance of artificial aids to human activity" (4).
- "If the experience of modern society shows us anything, however, it is that technologies are not merely aids to human activity, but also powerful forces acting to reshape that activity and its meaning" (6).
- "The construction of a technical system that involves human beings as operating parts brings a reconstruction of social roles and relationships" (11).
-Why does it matter?
-How has technological innovations been conventionally understood?
He believes that, unlike other forms of human creativity, technology has never been considered a subject worthy of philosophical inquiry. This is reflected in our general approach to technology which is more concerned with "how things work" and "making things work" than with the moral and political significance of technical systems in themselves. If we are to awaken from what he calls our "technological somnambulism," a condition in which progress is driven by technology itself rather than by the vision and innovation of society at large, then we need a new approach — "a philosophy of technology" — that examines the consequences and wider implications of technology in our lives.
Winner fears that our instruments have become institutions in t ...