Abstract
In this contribution, the author contends that the way in which Pieter Lemmens interprets the transcendental of technology, particularly through the work of Bernard Stiegler, is only one of the possible ways of understanding the transcendental of technology. His thesis is that there are many other transcendentals of technology besides technology itself. The task of a philosophy of technology beyond the empirical turn could precisely consist in exploring these multiple transcendentals of technology, along with their multiple relations. In the first section, the author considers and criticizes the “empirical transcendentality” that characterizes most of the current philosophical approaches to technology, in particular when it comes to ethical issues. In the second section, he proposes to include Lemmens’ perspective in a more general theory (and consequent practices) about the transcendentals of technology. The transcendentals of technology include social symbolic forms, culture, language, media, and many other dimensions that philosophy of technology has not systematically explored yet.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
To be honest, in the conclusion of his book, Smith introduces the notion of mapping as a method for philosophy of technology after the empirical turn. My approach could be understood as a specification of this method, since the notion of mapping itself is still, in my opinion, a bit vague.
https://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/eu-guidelines-ethics-washing-made-in-europe/24195496.html. Accessed December 12, 2019.
Interestingly enough, within the linguistic turn, as well, one can distinguish between empirical and transcendental approaches.
See the development in France of the “sociologie des usages” in information and communication studies (Proulx 2015).
References
De Certeau, M. (2011). The Practice of Everyday Life. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Kroes, P., & Meijers, A. (2016). Toward an Axiological Turn in the Philosophy of Technology. In M. Franssen, P. Vermaas, P. Kroes, & A. Meijers (Eds.), Philosophy of Technology After the Empirical Turn (pp. 11–30). Dordrecht: Springer.
Proulx, S. (2015). La sociologie des usages. Et après? Revue française des sciences de l’information et de la communication (Vol. 6). Retrieved January 12, 2019, from https://journals.openedition.org/rfsic/1230.
Romele, A. (2019). Digital Hermeneutics: Philosophical Investigations in New Media and Technologies. New York: Routledge.
Romele, A. (2020). Technological Capital: Bourdieu, Postphenomenology, and the Philosophy of Technology Beyond the Empirical Turn. Philosophy & Technology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13347-020-00398-4.
Smith, A. (2003). Do You Believe in Ethics? Latour and Ihde in the Trenches of the Science War. In D. Ihde & E. Selinger (Eds.), Chasing technoscience (pp. 182–194). Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Smith, D. (2018). Exceptional Technologies: A Continental Philosophy of Technology. London: Bloomsbury. Kindle edition.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Romele, A. The Transcendental of Technology Is Said in Many Ways. Found Sci 27, 975–980 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10699-020-09758-x
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10699-020-09758-x