Overcoming Substantivism-Determinism with Pragmatist Philosophy of Technology
Overcoming Substantivism-Determinism with Pragmatist Philosophy of Technology

Summary/Abstract: Carl Sagan (1990) famously lamented how “we live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows about science and technology. This is a clear prescription for disaster”. One might add that in contemporary societies, people know about the philosophy of science and technology even less. This tends to include scientific experts just as well. Is this a prescription for disaster? Scientific and technological literacy alone will not salvage us from ourselves for the simple reason that “science, by itself, does not supply us with an ethic” (Russell, 1993[1950], p. 406). Any clarity concerning the value and the meaning of these terms can only be had after one has thoroughly examined the deep networks of causes, influences and their general implications that hide behind superficially observable phenomena produced by technological innovations. [...]

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