Volume 48, 2008
Philosophy of Technology
Whachul Son
Pages 65-73
What are We Experiencing?
Challenges of Globalization to the Empirical Turn Approach In Philosophy of Technology
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the implications of globalization for philosophy of technology. Various themes in philosophy of technology can be seen under a different light when globalization is understood in terms of modern technology. Among them is the conflict between methodologies of the classical philosophy of technology and the empirical turn. It is argued that once the phenomenon of globalization challenges the empirical turn approach in terms of (i) its focus on individual technologies; (ii) the importance of normative aspect of philosophy of technology, and; (iii) theories of democratizing technology. This is followed by five suggestions concerning how the insights of the classical philosophy of technology can benefit current discourses on globalization and technology.