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2002 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

The significance and the scope of the "inessentialism" in the philosophy of technology

Research Project

Project/Area Number 13610004
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)

Allocation TypeSingle-year Grants
Section一般
Research Field Philosophy
Research InstitutionThe University of Tokyo

Principal Investigator

MURATA Junichi  The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Professor, 大学院・総合文化研究科, 教授 (40134407)

Project Period (FY) 2001 – 2002
Keywordsphilosophy of technology / inessentialism / social constructivism / technological determinism
Research Abstract

One of the main characteristics of the recent situation in the philosophy of technology is the popularity of the social constructivist approach. According to this approach, the process and product of technology are not strictly determined by the "pure" technological logic, but open to various social influences and "interpretatively flexible". On the other hand, this approach does not result in the social determinism, but rather in a kind of "indeterminism" or "inessentialism", according to which the process and product of technology are determined by multi-dimensional factors. This approach has a merit of making the philosophy of technology set in a fruitful interaction with various empirical investigations, such as history and sociology of tehcnology. But on the other hand, there is a criticism against this approach, according to which too much flexibility brings about the indifference to political consequences of technology and makes the traditional role of philosophy impossible. Against this criticism, I have tried to show that the "inessentialism" can play a positive and critical role in the philosophy of technology.
The main point of the inessentialism is that technological phenomena is fundamentaly ambiguos and ambivalent. However advantageous and certain a design seems to be, it cannot be a perfect design, and we cannot eliminate a possibility of failure. If we take this "otherness" character of technology seriously, it is not the search for the usefulness and certainty but rather the possibility of failure and recognition of the unknown factors that must be the main target of the design process. In this way, according to the "inessentialism" the principle of design and the understanding of technology must be fundamentally changed.

  • Research Products

    (14 results)

All Other

All Publications (14 results)

  • [Publications] 村田 純一: "技術哲学の展望"思想. 926. 6-31 (2001)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
  • [Publications] 村田 純一: "色彩の多次元性-ゲーテとウィトゲンシュタイン"モルフォロギア. 23. 16-32 (2001)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
  • [Publications] 村田 純一: "意識の世界的存在と空間性-フッサール,ハイデガー,ギブソン"『ハイデガーと認知科学』産業図書. 121-148 (2002)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
  • [Publications] 村田 純一: "空間と色彩-生態学的現象学の観点へ向けて"『媒体性の現象学』青上社. 293-324 (2002)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
  • [Publications] 村田 純一: "技術の哲学"『科学技術社会論研究』. 1. 97-103 (2002)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
  • [Publications] Murata, Junichi: "Creativity of Technology : An Origin of Modernity?"Modernity and Technology, The MIT Press. 227-253 (2003)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
  • [Publications] 村田 純一: "色彩の哲学"岩波書店. 270 (2002)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
  • [Publications] Murata,Junichi: "Multi-dimensionality of color--Goethe and Wittgenstein (Japanese)"Morphologia. 23. 16-32 (2001)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
  • [Publications] Murata, Junichi: "Philosophy of technology (Japanese)"Journal of Science and Technology Studies. NO.1. 97-103 (2002)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
  • [Publications] Murata,Junichi: "The perspectives of the philosophy of technology (Japanese) , Shiso"Iwanami-shoten. 926 (2001)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
  • [Publications] Murata,Junichi: "The Being-in-the-World and the Spatiality of consciousness--Husserl, Heidegger, and Gibson (Japanese) , Heidegger and the Cognitive Science"Sangyo-tosho. 121-148 (2002)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
  • [Publications] Murata,Junichi: "Space and Color--towards a view point of ecological phenomenology (Japanese) , Phenomenology of medium"Seido-sha. 293-324 (2002)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
  • [Publications] Murata, Junichi , eds. by Thomas Misa, Philip Brey, and Andrew Feenberg: "Creativity of Technology : An Origin of Modernity? , Modernity and Technology"The MIT Press. 227-253 (2003)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
  • [Publications] Murata, Junichi: "The Philosophy of Color, (Shikisai no tetsugaku, Japanese)"Iwanami-shoten. 1-270 (2002)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より

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Published: 2004-04-14  

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