Technology: Overview

Technology: Overview

Technology may be broadly defined as the making and using of artifacts. In its simplest forms, however, use will involve no more than natural objects, and in more abstract instances fabrication and use can both be of concepts—in which case logic may be described as a technology. The etymology of the word leads back to the Greek techne, from which is derived technique and technics. In the opening lines of Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle (384–322 B.C.E.) observed that "Every techne and every inquiry, and similarly every praxis and pursuit, is believed to aim at some good" (1.1.1094a). Thus the centrality of human ends or intentions to technology makes ethical analyses vital. Ethical inquiry is made difficult, however, by the diversity of ways technology can be understood. According to one proposed analysis, technology may be distinguished into objects, knowledge, activities, and intentions (Mitcham 1994). Each of these types of technology constitutes a source and challenge for ethics.

Historical Dimensions

Before considering these different types of technology, which are covered in a plethora of entries in this encyclopedia, there are historical transformations from technics to technology to acknowledge. These transitions, which are also often described as shifts from ancient to modern or from prescientific to scientific technology, can be discussed in terms of artifacts and attitudes.

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