Phenomenological Philosophy Of Technology

As a new subject, philosophy of technology is developing quickly in China. After twenty years' development, China's scholars of philosophy of technology have studied on technology's ontology, epistemology and methodology widely and deeply, introduced Heidegger and Ellul's ideas, and there are many works. On the contrary, the research on western contemporary philosopher seems thin, what extent does western philosophy of technology develop? What's on earth the difference between us? So, as a noted American philosopher of technology, Don Ihde should enter Chinese philosophy of technology's study perspective, and the expounding on his philosophy of technology is very necessary.Ihde's philosophy of technology mainly includes phenomenology of technology, instrumental realism , view of technology and culture and cyberspace and phenomenology of embodiment. Phenomenology of technology is always termed as phenomenology of human-machine relations or phenomenology of tools, it is the base of Ihde's philosophy of technology, and it opens the basic route and developing thought for latter philosophy of technology. Ihde's phenomenology studied on the basic relations between human and technology, based on the changing process of human experience and perception, and set artifacts' mediating function in human and world's relations. Ihde thinks, modern science is essentially technologically embodied, the instrument is the mediator of technological embodiment and the interface of philosophy of science and philosophy of technology. Ihde's view of culture mainly surrounds the way that culture embeds in technology, its main aim is to reveal an embodied perspective to see technology. In Ihde's views, technology is viewed as a cultural instrument, it is non-neutral, and it is embedded deeply in daily life's practice. Ihde thinks, culture is influential, it is a part of human life world, and it determines technology's function. Ihde's conclusion from the dispute between embodied and disembodied cyberspace is, cyberspace not only needs embodiment, but also the setting up and development of cyberspace is based on human embodiment, and phenomenological body theory offers powerful theory background for it, so it comes into being the cyberspace's phenomenology of embodiment. Extending this phenomenology into philosophy of technology, Ihde finds the relations between...