Reflection on Technology
Programme director: Prof.dr.ir. P.A. Kroes
Motivation and Mission
Technology is a dominant factor within modern western society. The broad and widespread implementation of technology generates specific social and moral problems. At the same time, it is technology that is often called upon when solutions need to be found to these very problems. Technology is an inextricable part of the complex whole of factors that give shape to society. Our level of welfare, the nature of our cultural expressions and the opportunities and threats surrounding our health and well being are becoming more and more closely linked to technology. Technology is therefore an important topic for reflection, especially at a Technical University, given its principal role in shaping the development of technology, both through education and research. This reflection is particularly relevant for technology policy and control. If issues of technology policy and control are to be effectively dealt with, precise insight needs to be gained into the underlying conceptions of technology and of its relations to society. The motivation of studying the nature of modern technology lies, however, not only in the relevance of the knowledge gained for technology policy and control. Ultimately, a clear insight into the characteristics of modern technology is involved with the self-understanding of our culture.
The reflexive nature of this programme makes it different in orientation from the other research programmes of TPM, which are much more instrumental in nature. It does not aim at research results that contribute directly to the design, development and implementation of new technologies. Instead, the mission of this programme is to contribute to a better understanding of modern technology and of moral problems related to it. Through this understanding the programme intends to contribute to ongoing discussions about technology’s role in and (moral) impact on society. The two main themes of this programme, the nature of modern technology and moral issues related to technology, are closely related; the way technology is conceptualised, for instance, when it is viewed as a collection of morally neutral artefacts, may have far reaching consequences for ideas about how to deal with moral problems about technology.
