German Perspectives
Contemporary discussions of science, technology, and ethics in Germany take place largely in the context of developments in the philosophy of technology. Although during much of the second half of the twentieth century philosophical discussion of technology was divided up into various schools and approaches, by the beginning of the twenty-first century such divisions were giving way to a new problem-orientated approach that emphasized the social, cultural, human, and ethical dimensions of the production and use of technoscientific knowledge. Reflections on technological development and transfer, for instance, became less ideological and more eclectic, pragmatic, and interdisciplinary than in the past. Nevertheless, discussions of ethics related to the hybridization of science and technology in such fields as information technology and genetic engineering continue to occur against a specifically German philosophical background. Thus the following notes on German approaches to science, technology, and ethics are themselves hybrid introductions to schools and problems, theory and practice.
Background: Gehlen and Heidegger
Arnold Gehlen (1904–1976) and Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) were the two main philosophers to deal with technology during the second half of the twentieth century. Gehlen's anthropological approach was to interpret human beings as deficient beings who use technology to compensate for their organic shortcomings.
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