Interpreting Technology: Ricoeur on Questions Concerning Ethics and Philosophy of Technology(Philosophy, Technology and Society)

Paul Ricœur has been one of the most influential and intellectually challenging philosophers of the last century, and his work has contributed to a vast array of fields: studies of language, of history, of ethics and politics. However, he has up until recently only had a minor impact on the philosophy of technology. Interpreting Technology aims to put Ricœur’s work at the centre of contemporary philosophical thinking concerning technology. It investigates his project of critical hermeneutics for rethinking established theories of technology, the growing ethical and political impacts of technologies on the modern lifeworld, and ways of analysing global sociotechnical systems such as the Internet. Ricœur’s philosophy allows us to approach questions such as: how could narrative theory enhance our understanding of technological mediation? How can our technical practices be informed by the ethical aim of living the good life, with and for others, in just institutions? And how does the emerging global media landscape shape our sense of self, and our understanding of history? These questions are more timely than ever, considering the enormous impact technologies have on daily life in the 21st century: on how we shape ourselves with health apps, how we engage with one-another through social media, and how we act politically through digital platforms.

Table of Contents:

Introduction: Hermeneutic Philosophy of Technology: A Research Program
Alberto Romele, Wessel Reijers, Mark Coeckelbergh

Part I: Ricoeur and Theories of Technology
Chapter 1: Ricoeur’s Polysemy of Technology and its Reception - Ernst Wolff
Chapter 2: Postphenomenology and the Hermeneutic Ambiguity of Technology – Eoin Carney
Chapter 3: Let’s Narrate That Symmetry! Ricoeur and Latour – Jonne Hoek, Bas de Boer
Chapter 4: Ricoeur’s Critical Theory of Technology – David Kaplan
Chapter 5: Free the Text! A Texture Turn in Philosophy of Technology – Bruno Gransche

Part II: Ricoeur’s Ethics of Technology
Chapter 6: Narrative Self-Exposure on Social Media: From Ricoeur to Arendt in the Digital Age – Annemie Halsema
Chapter 7: Digital Hermeneutics: Will the Real Quantified Self Please Stand Up? – Noel Fitzpatrick
Chapter 8: The Pedagogical Relation in a Technological Age – David Lewin
Chapter 9: Prostheses as Narrative Technologies: Bioethical Considerations for Prosthetic Applications in Health C

Mark Coeckelbergh is professor of the philosophy of media and technology at the University of Vienna.

Alberto Romele is research associate at the IZEW, International Center for Ethics in the Sciences and Humanities, University of Tübingen.

Wessel Reijers is postdoctoral Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute.