From Techne to Technocracy: Reclaiming the Ethical and Cultural Soul of Technology

Abstract

In an era marked by vigorous debates on artificial intelligence, digital surveillance, algorithmic governance, and the ethical ramifications of technological advancement, Eric Schatzberg’s Technology: A Critical History of a Concept emerges as a timely and impactful contribution to the discourse. This meticulously researched monograph challenges the widespread myth of technology as an autonomous, value-neutral force. Instead, it reveals technology’s contested origins and ideological weight. According to Schatzberg, technology is a peculiar concept, frequently tied to vague and “contradictory meanings” (p. 2) that must be unpacked. He notes, in particular, how “the dominant definitions of technology are fundamentally at odds with its etymology. The -ology suffix suggests that technology should refer to an academic field or a system of formal knowledge, a meaning derived from the ancient Greek term logos, or reasoned discourse. However, in present-day usage, technology refers more to things than ideas, to material practices rather than a scholarly discipline” (p. 7).