Technology as prospective ontology

Abstract

Starting from common-sense notions of 'furniture of the world' a process ontology is developed in which prospective is an integral part. Technology as configurations that work (precariously) embodies expectations which structure further development. Examples (a cloned puppy, hotel keys, DC airplanes, stem cells, and overpasses on Long Island) are used to develop the notion of material narratives that are "written", not just by engineers and designers/producers, but also by users: "reading" implies some further "writing". In contrast to prevailing notions of technological control (through manipulation of building blocks), the "writing" of nanotechnology is modulation of the invisible and impredictable -an extreme example of unruly technology and repair work after the fact, where in practice control is a gesture not so different from magic. Because ontology cannot be other than prospective, it is political throughout. Thus, prospective technology highlights ontological politics.

The moral psychology of value sensitive design: the methodological issues of moral intuitions for responsible innovation

“…The inception of these methodologies are in response to some of the foundational issues debated within RI discourses, primarily those that result from the the social construction and co-production of technological artifacts (Foley, Bernstein, & Wiek, 2016; see also Pinch & Bijker, 1987). Firstly, the issues associated with the infrastructural embeddedness of a technology over a period of time make modification difficult.…”

“…It has long been a contention in the sociology of science that technological artifacts are embedded with values, whether those values are explicitly designed into them or not (Magnani, 2013;Pinch & Bijker, 1987;van Wynsberghe & Robbins, 2014;Winner, 2003). As such, technological artifacts become the subject of ethical discourses as the values that are embedded become of political and social import.…”

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“…In so doing, it will go beyond a focus just on epistemic and normative aspects, concerning indeterminacies in social appreciations concerning the natures, origins and implications of technological vulnerabilities (Jasanoff, 2005a). Consideration will shift instead to more ontological dimensions, to do with intractabilities associated with enactments of the socio-technical choices themselves -as prospective 'furnitures of the world' (Feenberg, 2002;Latour, 2005;Rip, 2009). This more material engagement with the challenges of vulnerability in technological culture is constituted not so much by characteristics in our ways of knowing and valuing but by encompassing (social, technical, and "natural") ways of being (Leach, Scoones, & Wynne, 2005).…”

The Context of Innovation Journeys

“…11 11 For further discussion of this example and how it has become iconic, so that the historical details do not matter very much, see Rip (2009). …”