Research On Andrew Feenberg’s Critical Theory Of Technology

Andrew Feenberg is a famous contemporary philosopher of technology,whose critical theory of technology is quite influential in the field of Western technology philosophy.Feenberg’s theory of technology criticism is rich in connotations,mainly including the theory of tools of technology,democratization of technology,and optional modernity.Its critical theory of technology puts forward many insightful views on the nature of technology,technology and democracy,and modernity.The theory of instrumentalization,namely primary instrumentalization and secondary instrumentalization,was put forward,and the operating rules within the technology were clarified.The core of the democratization of technology is the interests of participants.The interests of participants are reflected in the process of public participation in technological decision-making and technological design.The democratic participation of technological design is the prerequisite for technological transformation and innovation;the interests of participants always run through the "technical code".”,opening the way for alternative modernity.The logic of the article is as follows:Firstly,the origin of Feenberg’s theory of technology criticism is expounded,focusing on the influence and inspiration of the ideas of Marx,Heidegger,Marcuse and other philosophers of technology on the formation of Feenberg’s theory of technology criticism.Feenberg is synthesizing their thoughts.On the basis of forming their own critical theory of technology.Secondly,it systematically sorts out and summarizes the connotation of Feenberg’s theory of technology criticism in an all-round way,and reveals the inner logic of the exploration of future technology development.Feenberg’s instrumentalization theory clarifies the dialectics of technology,technology is not a "destiny",technology has the characteristics of "changeable","to be determined" and "intervention";the theory of democratization of technology clarifies the design of technology In the process of democratization,the interests of participation must be fully guaranteed.Alternative modernity starts from the investigation of modernity,through the investigation of Japan’s modernization process,it shows that the modernity of the Western model is not the only,technological Future development points to a more reasonable modern civilization-socialism.Thirdly,through the criticism of technical ontology and instrumental theory,the concept of "technical code" is introduced to clarify the internal rules and practical application of technical design.Feenberg pointed out that the traditional view of the essence of technology is divided into two categories,namely the instrumental theory of technology and the substantive theory of technology,which adopt an “accept or give up” attitude towards technology.No matter whether it is accepted or abandoned,technology cannot fully express its endogenous power.As a rule and power,"technical code" penetrates into the interior of technology,revealing a variety of possible ways of technological design,thus showing the possibility of technology for promoting democracy and realizing optional modernity,breaking away from tradition.Pessimistic thinking about technology.Feenberg’s critical theory of technology has achieved the transcendence of the traditional view of the essence of technology.Finally,the contribution and deficiency of Feenberg’s critical theory of technology are briefly reviewed.Its main contributions: realized the transformation of the philosophy of technology from theoretical speculation to practical dimension;enriched and developed Marx’s technical thought.Inadequate aspects: the nature of capitalist ownership is not really understood;the concept of "participant interests" goes to utopia.Although Feenberg’s theory of technology criticism is flawed to a certain extent,it provides an important theoretical basis for upholding and developing socialist modernization with Chinese characteristics.