Technology, Innovation and Life World: A Phenomenological Analysis

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Chinese Philosophy of Technology

Part of the book series: Philosophy of Engineering and Technology ((POET,volume 34))

  • 341 Accesses

Abstract

It is presented that a basic strategy in philosophical analysis of technological innovation is to take the life world as the logic starting point, to focus on the tensions between the routine and innovative practices, and to explain why humans can conduct innovations based on traditions. Ontologically, technological innovations motivate and lie in the existential cycle of the human being. It is argued that the technological innovation stems from the rupture of the life world and the end of circular flow economy in face of the problematic situation and it is the process of trading, disputing, and resolving of such disputes. In this process, through a series of “mangles” and “experiments”, the technological problem is constructed and then solved, and eventually a new association of human and nonhuman is established, thus the life world is renewed and even reconstructed. The essence of human existence lies in technology (being) as well as in innovation (becoming), so it is absurd to deny technology and innovation and the only choice is to do technological innovations responsibly. Responsible innovation means not so much letting responsible people into the innovation process to supervise the irresponsible innovators, but rather to help broaden the innovation vision and to share such responsibilities.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
EUR 32.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
EUR 29.95
Price includes VAT (Germany)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
EUR 85.59
Price includes VAT (Germany)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
EUR 106.99
Price includes VAT (Germany)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free ship** worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
EUR 106.99
Price includes VAT (Germany)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free ship** worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Achterhuis, H. (Ed.). (2001). American philosophy of technology: The empirical turn. Indiana: Indiana University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, U. (1992). Risk society: Towards a new modernity. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blok, V. (2018). Philosophy of innovation: A research agenda. Philosophy of Management, 17(1), 1–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1974). Outline of a theory of practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bucciarelli, L. L. (2003). Engineering philosophy, Delft University Press, 11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deleuze, G. (1994). Difference and repetition. New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galison, P. (1997). Image and logic: A material culture of microphysics (p. 783). Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. 783.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giddens, A. (1986). The constitution of society: Outline of the theory of structuration. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gorman, M. E. (Ed.). (2010). Trading zones and interactional expertise. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grunwald, Armin. (2014). The hermeneutic side of responsible research and innovation. Journal of Responsible Innovation, 1(3), 274–291.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, J. (1987). Theory of communicative action, volume two: Lifeworld and system: A critique of functionalist reason. Translated by A. Thomas. McCarthy, Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hannan, M. T., & Freeman, J. (1984). Structural inertia and organizational change. American Sociological Review, 49(2), 149–164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harman, G. (2007). Heidegger explained: From phenomenon to thing. Chicago, IL: Open Court.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heidegger, M. (1962). Being and time. London: Harper & Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heidegger, M. (1984). Nietzsche. Translation by David Ferrell Krell. San Francisco: Harper and Row Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Husserl, E. (1954). The crisis of European sciences and transcendental phenomenology. Evanston: Northwestern University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ihde, D. (1990). Technology and the lifeworld: From garden to earth. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kroes, P., & Meijers, A. (Eds.). (2001). The empirical turn in the philosophy of technology. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krohn, W., & Weyer, J. (1994). Society as a laboratory: The social risks of experimental research. Science and Public Policy, 21(3), 173–183.

    Google Scholar 

  • Latour, B. (1993). We have never been modern. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, S. (2018). The virtues and vices of innovators. Philosophy of Management, 17(1), 79–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pickering, A. (1995). The mangle of practice: Time, agency, and science. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Polanyi, M. (1958). Personal knowledge: Towards a post-critical philosophy. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reinert, H., & Reinert, E. S. (2006). Creative destruction in economics: Nietzsche, sombart, schumpeter. In J. G. Backhaus, W. Drechsler (Eds.), Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900): Economy and society (pp. 55–85). Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg, N., & Birdzell, L. E. (1987). How the West grew rich: The economic transformation of the industrial world. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schatzki, T. R., Knorr-Cetina, K., & von Savigny, E. (Eds.). (2001). The practice turn in contemporary theory. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schumpeter, J. A. (1934). The theory of economic development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shionoya, Y. (2010). Hermeneutics and the heidegger = schumpeter theses. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 69(1), 188–202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steiner, C. J. (1995). A philosophy for innovation: The role of unconventional individuals in innovation success. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 12(5), 431–440.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • von Schomberg, R. (2013). A vision of responsible innovation. In R. Owen, J. R. Bessant & Heintz M (Eds.), Responsible innovation: Managing the responsible emergence of science and innovation in society (pp. 51–74). Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, D. (2001). Technological innovation and institutional structures. Shenyang: Northeast University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, D., & Guan, S. (2004). On philosophy of technology, technological practice and rationality. Philosophical Researches, (11), 55–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead, A. N. (1911). An introduction to mathematics. London: Williams and Norgate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wittgenstein, L. (1979). On certainty. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, Verse 110.

    Google Scholar 

  • **a, B., & Chen, C. (2001). On the philosophical study of technological innovation. Studies in Dialectics of Nature, 17(8), 18–21, 35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, B., & Wang, D. (2015). On phenomenology of artifacts: A new analysis framework. Philosophical Researches, (6), 113–119.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dazhou Wang .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Wang, D. (2020). Technology, Innovation and Life World: A Phenomenological Analysis. In: Wang, Q. (eds) Chinese Philosophy of Technology. Philosophy of Engineering and Technology, vol 34. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1952-9_12

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Navigation