The social nature of technique

Abstract

In the article various approaches to the philosophical analysis of technique are considered: they are compared by the criterion of efficiency for the analysis of social processes of modernity. The urgency of the analyzed problem is caused by the need to make a choice between concepts that explain the causes of crisis processes in a technogenic society and put forward conflicting programs of action. Traditional interpretations saw in technique a means of extracting material goods from the natural environment and forget that it is an essential component of social interactions. The way out of the technogenic problems was seen in the formation and implementation of international coordination programs for technical and environmental activities. With the method of methodological reconstruction of philosophical approaches, it is shown that the traditional understanding of technique as an obedient tool does not explain adequately the autonomy of technique characteristic of modern epoch and its transforming impact on society. An understanding of technical reality as a subsystem of social reality and technique as an aggregate of tools created by people to meet socially recognized needs and used according to social norms is suggested. According to the proposed concept, the forms and methods of creation and development of technical objects existing in a given society are socially determined, technical progress is determined by social mechanisms, and the functioning of the social system can be understood as technology and analyzed with the help of concepts developed for technique analysis. This approach opens new perspectives for understanding the technique: autonomy of technique is understood as its independence from the will of an individual, caused by the alienated state of social reality. The development of technique and the expansion of the technogenic environment generated by it is viewed as a natural process, each stage of which is generated by social needs and is realized with the compulsion of historical necessity. There are social mechanisms that encourage technological progress and increased consumption. Therefore, technological progress, supported by impersonal social mechanisms, can not be directly controlled. Technogenic errors and catastrophes are of the same nature as social conflicts. The technogenic environment, as a result of the functioning of the social machine of production and consumption, generates and supports various forms of technical communication. Therefore, the conscious impact of people on the technical reality is possible through social harmonization and raising of the cultural level. It is necessary to form new needs and new values. Therefore, environmental problems can not be solved without the transformation of social ties and political institutions. Considering technique as a result of social practices and analyzing its dependence on society, it becomes possible to assess contemporary problems caused by the expansion of technique and technical rationality as a special case of general social problems.