Questioning Technology

by Andrew Feenberg

In this extraordinary introduction to the study of the philosophy of technology, Andrew Feenberg argues that technological 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 change reverberates at countless levels: economic, political, and cultural. If we continue to see the social and technical domains as being separate, then we are essentially denying an integral part of our existence, and our place in a democratic society.

Questioning Technology convinces us that it is vital that we learn more about technology the better to live with it and to manage it.

Genres: Philosophy, Technology, Sociology, Politics, Nonfiction, Research

266 pages, Paperback

First published February 25, 1999

About the author

Andrew Feenberg is Canada Research Chair in Philosophy of Technology in the School of Communication, Simon Fraser University, where he directs the Applied Communication and Technology Lab. He has also taught for many years in the Philosophy Department at San Diego State University, and at Duke University, the State University of New York at Buffalo, the Universities of California, San Diego and Irvine, the Sorbonne, the University of Paris-Dauphine, the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, and the University of Tokyo and the University of Brasilia.

He is the author of Lukacs, Marx and the Sources of Critical Theory (Rowman and Littlefield, 1981; Oxford University Press, 1986), Critical Theory of Technology (Oxford University Press, 1991), Alternative Modernity (University of California Press, 1995), and Questioning Technology (Routledge, 1999). A second edition of Critical Theory of Technology appeared with Oxford in 2002 under the title Transforming Technology. Heidegger and Marcuse: The Catastrophe and Redemption of History appeared in 2005 with Routledge. Between Reason and Experience: Essays in Technology and Modernity appeared with MIT Press in 2010. Translations of several of these books are available. Dr. Feenberg is also co-editor of Marcuse: Critical Theory and the Promise of Utopia (Bergin and Garvey Press, 1987), Technology and the Politics of Knowledge (Indiana University Press, 1995), Modernity and Technology (MIT Press, 2003), and Community in the Digital Age (Rowman and Littlefield, 2004). His co-authored book on the French May Events of 1968 appeared in 2001 with SUNY Press under the title When Poetry Ruled the Streets. With William Leiss, Feenberg has edited a collection entitled The Essential Marcuse published by Beacon Press. A book on Feenberg's philosophy of technology entitled Democratizing Technology, appeared in 2006.

In addition to his work on Critical Theory and philosophy of technology, Dr. Feenberg has published on the Japanese philosopher Nishida Kitaro. He is also recognized as an early innovator in the field of online education, a field he helped to create in 1982. He led the TextWeaver Project on improving software for online discussion forums under a grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education of the US Department of Education. For the latest web based version of this software, see http://webmarginalia.net/. Dr. Feenberg is currently studying online education on a grant from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

Reviews

[Ralph Palm · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent introduction to the topic, as well as being a thoroughly convincing argument in its own right.

The author had a slight tendency toward sociologist jargonspeak, but I also had the impression it was less of a problem here than with some of his colleagues.

It made me want to learn more about the issue, which is also good.

[Christian Molenaar · Rating 3 out of 5]

[2.5/5 stars]
I really have no idea where I stand on this one. Feenberg offers a solid critique of technological determinism and essentialism by referencing Ellul and, uh, Heidegger but gets way too bogged down when attempting to discuss technology's role in democracies. Some of the constructivist concepts are cool but while I'm normally all for drinking the Foucault Flavor-Aid the writing on power (and really the whole end of the book) is a convoluted mess of clashing ideas.

[Therem Estraven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Offers a generally decent critique of technology, technique, and technocracy through a unique lens, synthesizing criticisms of Heidegger, Ellul, Marcuse, and Habermas in an attempt to offer a more refreshed and nuanced position on technology. The book falls short, at least to me, when it reaches the subject of Democracy. That warranted removing two stars.

[Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction to a topic, which perhaps is a bit historical now. However, I am unfamiliar with the full history of the subject, which when it pertains to technology starts with Heidegger- though the phenomenol0gical approach begins with Husserl (which I attempted to read in High School, though this was in English, rather than the native German).

[Aelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

reading it before I go to a conference in Uppsala, where I will listen to Andrew Feenberg in person and hopefully get a chance to ask him questions...

One of the best authors for those interested in politics of technology.

[Greg Bryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bogs down in theory at the end, but rather compelling.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

partway through, still unsure on methodology, but interested