The Social Form of Technization and the Difference across Media
摘要
In chapter 3, the core of a social pragmatist theory of technology is developed. Substantial and instrumentalist conceptions of technology are replaced by a relational and two-level concept. That is mainly based on a processual and pragmatic view of ‘technization’ (Husserl), ‘practical tool-creation’ (Dewey), and a paradigmatic change from a ‘ends/means’ to a ‘medium/form’-relationship (Heider). On the first level, technization is considered a specific ‘social practice’ and ‘symbolic form’ (Cassirer) aimed at creating ‘schemata’ of effective relations (Blumenberg; Luhmann; Jullien). On the second level, the different media that make differences under the aspects of adjustability (human bodies), durability (physical things), and fine-granularity (signs) are to be analyzed. They are the stuff in which the effective forms are embodied, objectified, and inscribed. This theory sets the stage for a non-dualistic research program that is able to analyze the sociomaterial practices and processes forming sociotechnical constellations and constituting society.