Social Constructivism for Philosophers of Technology: a Shopper's Guide1

Social constructivist approaches in technology studies have recently gained the attention of philosophers of technology, as is shown by a number of publications (e.g., Mitcham, 1995; Feenberg and Hannay, 1995; Winner, 1991, 1994; Feenberg, 1992, 1995). Whereas the aim of some of these studies is to provide a philosophical critique of social constructivism (e.g., Winner 1991), others aim to incorporate notions and ideas of social constructivism into the philosophy of technology (e.g., Feenberg, 1992, 1995). The aim of this essay is not to (merely) critique social constructivism, nor is it to incorporate social constructivist notions into a philosophical analysis of technology. Its aim is, rather, to ask and (provisionally) answer two questions concerning the potential implications of social constructivism for philosophy of technology: (1) Could the philosophy of technology benefit from social constructivist approaches in technology studies through an incorporation of some of their analyses, concepts and theories? (2) If so, how would the philosophy of technology be transformed as a result?2 These two questions cannot be answered properly without an evaluation of the weak and strong points of both current philosophy of technology and current social constructivist technology studies. A large part of this essay will be devoted to such an assessment.