| Front | Back | | --- | --- | | What is Jacques Ellul's concept of 'technique', and why does he argue humans do not control it? |

Technique is the systematic pursuit of maximum efficiency in every domain of human life.
It is autonomous and self-augmenting, meaning it grows according to its own internal logic rather than serving human purposes.

| | How does the example of hospital efficiency metrics illustrate Ellul's claim that technique controls humans? | Medical judgment is subordinated to throughput targets (such as 7-minute patient limits), reducing human relationships to data-entry tasks and letting efficiency metrics dictate care. | | What is Neil Postman's concept of 'Technopoly', and what is its main consequence for cultural values? |

A Technopoly is a society that has surrendered its cultural authority to technology.
Its main consequence is that all human activity is judged solely by technical criteria (efficiency, measurement), displacing questions of meaning and purpose.

| | How do fitness trackers illustrate Postman's concept of Technopoly on an individual level? | They replace the rich, subjective experience of how a person actually feels with quantified metrics (steps, sleep scores), shifting authority from the self to the device. | | According to Karl Marx's historical materialism, how do the 'forces of production' shape society? Give his classic historical example. |

The forces of production (technology and tools) determine the relations of production (who holds power and wealth).
Marx's example: The hand-mill produces a society of feudal lords; the steam-mill produces industrial capitalists.

| | How does Marx's view of technology's impact on workers contrast with Ernst Kapp's 'organ projection' thesis? |

Kapp argues technology extends human organs and capacities.
Marx argues that under capitalism, technology alienates and dominates workers, fragmenting and dehumanizing them.

| | Why is Marx's view of technology not a form of *pure* technological determinism? | Marx argues that technology's social impact is not inherent to the machines themselves, but depends on the relations of production (the social and economic context of its use). | | What is 'interpretive flexibility' in the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) framework? Give one example. |

The concept that the same technological artifact has different meanings and design trajectories for different social groups.
Example: The early bicycle was interpreted as a sporting device by some, and as practical transport by others.

| | How does the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) approach differ from both instrumentalism and technological determinism? |

Against instrumentalism: It rejects the idea that technology is a neutral tool, showing it is shaped by social interests.
Against determinism: It rejects the idea that technology drives change alone, arguing that society and technology co-construct each other.

| | What is Bruno Latour's Actor-Network Theory (ANT), and how does it redefine agency? |

ANT treats both humans and non-human objects as actants in a shared network.
It redefines agency as distributed across the entire network, rather than residing solely in human intentions.

| | How does Latour use objects like a speed bump or a door-closer to argue that technology is not a passive instrument? | These objects function as active participants in social life by forcing human behaviors (slowing down, closing doors), thereby sharing agency with humans to produce social outcomes. | | What is Sheila Jasanoff's concept of 'co-production' in the context of technology and society? | The thesis that technological systems and social/political orders are produced simultaneously; each reflects, reinforces, and co-creates the other. | | How does Jasanoff use France and Germany's nuclear energy pathways to illustrate the concept of co-production? |

France's centralized nuclear program reinforced its tradition of technocratic state authority.
Germany's nuclear phase-out reflected its culture of grassroots environmentalism.
The technology did not dictate the outcome; political culture co-produced the technological trajectory.

| | What is Sherry Turkle's main argument in *Alone Together* regarding constant digital connectivity? | Constant connectivity paradoxically produces isolation, leading people to prefer shallow, curated online personas over authentic, vulnerable human relationships. | | What is Nicholas Carr's argument in *The Shallows* regarding the cognitive impact of the internet? | Internet use causes neurological restructuring, training the brain to favor rapid, shallow scanning at the expense of deep reading and sustained attention. | | What is the 'continuity thesis' regarding technology's impact on human existence, and what is its core argument? |

The view that technology has not fundamentally changed human existence.
Core argument: Human nature (the desire for connection and meaning) remains constant; technology only changes the medium of pursuit.

| | Jacques Ellul argued in The Technological Society that modern life is dominated by technique, which is the relentless drive for maximum efficiency in all domains. | Jacques Ellul argued in The Technological Society that modern life is dominated by technique, which is the relentless drive for maximum efficiency in all domains. | | The Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) framework, developed by Bijker and Pinch, relies on the concept of interpretive flexibility to show how different social groups shape technology. | The Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) framework, developed by Bijker and Pinch, relies on the concept of interpretive flexibility to show how different social groups shape technology. | | Luciano Floridi argues that we now inhabit the infosphere, where the boundary between online and offline life is blurred, making informational privacy a matter of human dignity. | Luciano Floridi argues that we now inhabit the infosphere, where the boundary between online and offline life is blurred, making informational privacy a matter of human dignity. | | In Marx's materialist framework, the forces of production (technology and tools) shape the relations of production (class and power structures). | In Marx's materialist framework, the forces of production (technology and tools) shape the relations of production (class and power structures). |

1. Being human6 subtopics

2. Aesthetics3 subtopics

3. Epistemology3 subtopics

4. Ethics3 subtopics

5. Philosophy of religion3 subtopics

6. Philosophy of science3 subtopics

7. Political philosophy3 subtopics

8. Social philosophy3 subtopics

9. HL extension: Philosophy and contemporary issues3 subtopics

10. Prescribed philosophical texts12 subtopics

IB Philosophy 9.1.2 Impact of Technology on Individuals and Societies Flashcards