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AbstractAndrew Feenberg is a pioneer in the development of the philosophy of technology. Before his retirement, he was the Canada Research Chair in Philosophy of Technology in the School of Communication, Simon Fraser University, where he also directed the Applied Communication and Technology Laboratory (ACTL). He is the author or editor of thirteen books on Critical Theory, Western Marxism, and the philosophy of technology, including Lukács, Marx, and the Sources of Critical Theory (1981), Critical Theory of Technology (1991), Technology and the Politics of Knowledge (ed with Alastair Hannay) (1995), Questioning Technology (1999), (Re)Inventing the Internet: Critical Case Studies (ed with Norm Friesen) (2012) and Technosystem: The Social Life of Reason (2017).

This important collection of essays by Andrew Feenberg presents his critical theory of technology, an innovative approach to philosophy and sociology of technology based on a synthesis of ideas drawn from STS and Frankfurt School Critical Theory. The volume includes chapters on citizenship, modernity, and Heidegger and Marcuse.

Rethinking modernity as the construction of technological systems / David J. Stump -- The posthuman challenge to Andrew Feenberg / Simon Cooper -- An ecofeminist response / Trish Glazebrook -- What's wrong with being a technological essentialist? A response to Feenberg / Iain Thomson -- From critical theory to pragmatism : Feenberg's progress / Larry A. Hickman -- Democracy and technology / Gerald Doppelt -- Feenberg and the reform of technology / Albert Borgmann -- Commodification and secondary rationalization / Paul B. Thompson -- Democratic technology, population, and environmental change / Andrew Light -- Technological malleability and the social reconstruction of technologies / Edward J. Woodhouse -- Replies to critics / Andrew Feenberg

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. Environmentalism, information technology, and medical advances testify to technology's crucial importance.In his lucid and engaging style, Feenberg shows that technology is the medium of daily life. Every major technical changes reverberates at countless levels: economic, political, and cultural. If we continue to see the social and technical domains as being seperate, then we are essentially den

Si la citoyenneté implique l'agentivité, qu'est-ce que l'agentivité et comment est-elle possible dans une société technologique avancée dans laquelle une part importante de la vie s'organise autour de systèmes techniques commandés par des experts ? Cet article aborde cette question du point de vue d'une philosophie de la technologie et des travaux constructivistes sur la technologie. En un premier temps, l'article établit les conditions de l'agentivité comme étant le savoir, le pouvoir et des situations propices à son émergence. L'article considère ensuite le role du biais dans la construction de systèmes technologiques ainsi que l'importance de l'intérêt des participants dans la modification de ce biais. Pour terminer, l'article se penche sur la question plus vaste des perspectives de changement civilisationnel que commande la crise environnementale dans un régime technologique globalisant.

The social ferment of the mid-1960's arose in part from the failure of liberalism, & the transformation of this doctrine from a vaguely populist movement's outlook into the official technocratic ideology of total social integration. Advanced capitalism's success depends upon its ability to organize individuals as a smooth operating machine guided by "scientific expertise," using the techniques of persuasion rather than violent repression to mold a collectively predictable mass of conformists. The individual's loyalty to the system is purchased by the goods & services it delivers, but the aggression & alienation generated in the process must be channeled at an internal or external enemy. 2 types of films that became popular in the US during this period reflect the problems & contradictions of a society built on perpetual individualism. The "social critical" films, warmly received by the domestic opposition, reject modern society with a vengeance & depict the death of traditional humanistic culture with nostalgic tenderness. The "spy" films celebrate the pleasures of technological society & depict its triumph over criminal conspiracies & malicious underdeveloped cultures. Yet in both types of popular movies, the hero establishes his humanity by taking action against the machine or technocracy & through the conquest of love. Although the "social critical" film exacerbates the conflict between the technological society & human values, while the "spy" film attempts to resolve this tension, the essential theme of these movies is similar. The viewers identify themselves as heroes in a guerilla war against technocracy & its system that is simultaneously rejected & loved, feared & accepted. The dominant social tendencies in the near future seem to be continued & intensified polarization leading to either rebellion or fascism. A. Karmen.

In these replies I address criticism of my work on the grounds that I adopt a 'humanist' approach, underestimate the aesthetic potential of contemporary video games, overlook the role of the nation-state in resisting technological imperialism, fail to appreciate the risks of reactionary appropriations of technology, and introduce an extrinsic and dubious aesthetic value into the philosophy of technology. In the course of responding to these criticisms, I reiterate several of the basic claims of critical theory of technology.