Technology Compared to his predecessors in philosophy of technology, such as
Martin Heidegger and
Jacques Ellul who have a dystopian view of technology, Feenberg's view is positive even though critical. For
Heidegger and
Ellul technology affects people's life but is for the most part beyond their control. For Feenberg technology and society influence each other. He separates himself from the instrumentalists who view technology merely as instruments which are within humans' full control. Feenberg's primary contribution to the philosophy of technology is his argument for the democratic transformation of technology. From his book
Transforming Technology, :"What human beings are and will become is decided in the shape of our tools no less than in the action of statesmen and political movements. The design of technology is thus an ontological decision fraught with political consequences. The exclusion of the vast majority from participation in this decision is profoundly undemocratic" (p.3). Feenberg provides the theoretical foundation for this idea through the Critical Theory of Technology which he develops over three books:
The Critical Theory of Technology (1991) (re-published as
Transforming Technology: A Critical Theory Revisited [2002]),
Alternative Modernity: The Technical Turn in Philosophy and Social Theory (1995), and
Questioning Technology (1999). The basis of Feenberg's critical theory of technology is a concept of dialectical technological rationality he terms instrumentalization theory. Instrumentalization theory combines the social critique of technology familiar from the philosophy of technology (
Karl Marx,
Herbert Marcuse,
Martin Heidegger,
Jacques Ellul) with insights taken from the empirical case studies of
science and technology studies. Applications of his theory include studies of online education,
the Minitel, the Internet, and digital games.
Democratic rationalization Democratic rationalization is term used by Feenberg in his article "Subversive Rationalization: Technology, Power and Democracy with technology." Feenberg argues against the idea of
technological determinism citing flaws in its two fundamental theses. The first is the
thesis of unilinear progress. This is the belief that technological progress follows a direct and predictable path from lower to higher levels of complexity and that each stage along this path is necessary for progress to occur. The second is the
thesis of determination by the base. This is the concept that in a society where a technology had been introduced, that society must organize itself or adapt to the technology (
Feenberg 211). In his argument against the former thesis
Feenberg says that
constructivist studies of technology will lead us to realize that there is not a set path by which development of technologies occur but rather an emerging of similar technologies at the same time leading to a multiplicity of choices. These choices are made based upon certain social factors and upon examining them we will see that they are not deterministic in nature. Arguing against the latter thesis,
Feenberg calls to our attention social reforms that have been mandated by governments mainly in regards to the protection of its citizens and laborers. Most of the time these mandates are widely accepted after being passed through the governing body. At which point technology and industry will reform and re-evolve to meet the new standards in a way that has greater efficiency than it did so previously.
Other writings Feenberg has also published books and articles on the philosophy of
Herbert Marcuse,
Martin Heidegger,
Jürgen Habermas,
Karl Marx,
Georg Lukacs, and
Kitarō Nishida. ==Selected works==