Teaching About Technology: An Introduction To The Philosophy Of Technology For Non-philosophers

TEACHING ABOUT TECHNOLOGY Science & Technology Education Library VOLUME 27 SERIES EDITOR William W. Cobern, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, USA FOUNDING EDITOR Ken Tobin, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA EDITORIAL BOARD Henry Brown-Acquay, University College of Education of Winneba, Ghana Mariona Espinet, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain Gurol Irzik, Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey Olugbemiro Jegede, The Open University, Hong Kong Reuven Lazarowitz, Technion, Haifa, Israel Lilia Reyes Herrera, Universidad Autónoma de Colombia, Bogota, Colombia Marrisa Rollnick, College of Science, Johannesburg, South Africa Svein Sjøberg, University of Oslo, Norway Hsiao-lin Tuan, National Changhua University of Education, Taiwan SCOPE The book series Science & Technology Education Library provides a publication forum for scholarship in science and technology education. It aims to publish innovative books which are at the forefront of the field. Monographs as well as collections of papers will be published. The titles published in this series are listed at the end of this volume. Teaching about Technology An Introduction to the Philosophy of Technology for Non-philosophers by MARC J. DE VRIES Eindhoven University, The Netherlands A C.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN-10 1-4020-3409-1 (HB) Springer Dordrecht, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York ISBN-10 1-4020-3410-5 (e-book) Springer Dordrecht, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York ISBN-13 978-1-4020-3409-1 (HB) Springer Dordrecht, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York ISBN-13 978-1-4020-3410-7 (e-book) Springer Dordrecht, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York Published by Springer, P.O. Box 17, 3300 AA Dordrecht, The Netherlands. Printed on acid-free paper All Rights Reserved © 2005 Springer. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Printed in the Netherlands. TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface Chapter 1. Philosophy of technology: what and why? vii 1 Chapter 2. Technological artifacts 13 Chapter 3. Technological knowledge 29 Chapter 4. Technological processes 49 Chapter 5. Technology and the nature of humans 67 Chapter 6. Ethics and aesthetics of technology 87 Chapter 7. Learners’ philosophies of technology 105 Chapter 8. Reconceptualizing technology through education 115 Chapter 9. Practical issues in teaching about technology 127 Chapter 10. Questions and assignments 135 Chapter 11. Resources for further reading and thinking 145 Subject Index 161 Name Index 167 PREFACE Writing this book has been quite a challenge. Philosophy for many people as practical as teachers can be often has a reputation of being unpractical, difficult to understand, dull, and more of those not so positive connotations. Yes, it is my firm belief that tea