What Things Do: Philosophical Reflections On Technology, Agency, And Design

259 Pages·2005·2.34 MB·English

by  Peter-Paul Verbeek

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WhatThingsDo
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WhatThingsDo
philosophical
reflections
on technology,
agency,
and design
peter-paul verbeek
translated by robert p. crease
The Pennsylvania State University Press
University Park, Pennsylvania
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Disclaimer:
Some images in the original version of this book are not
available for inclusion in the eBook.
The translation of this book was made possible by a
publication grant from the Netherlands Organization
for Scientific Research (NWO).
Figure 2from Bruno Latour is reproduced from W. Bijker
and J. Law, eds., Shaping Technology/Building Society
(Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1992).
Originally published as De daadkracht der dingen: Over
techniek, filosofie en vormgevingby Boom Publishers,
Amsterdam. Copyright 2000Peter-Paul Verbeek.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Verbeek, Peter-Paul, 1970–
[De daadkracht der Dingen. English]
What things do : philosophical reflections on tech-
nology, agency, and design / Peter-Paul Verbeek ;
translated by Robert P. Crease.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-271-02539-5(alk. paper)
1.Technology—Philosophy.
I. Title.
T14 .V48 2005
306.4'6—dc22
2004020480
English translation copyright © 2005Peter-Paul Verbeek
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Published by The Pennsylvania State University Press,
University Park, PA 16802-1003
The Pennsylvania State University Press is a member
of the Association of American University Presses.
It is the policy of The Pennsylvania State University Press
to use acid-free paper. Publications on uncoated stock
satisfy the minimum requirements of American National
Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Material, ANSI Z39.48–1992.
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Contents
Preface and Acknowledgments vii
Introduction: To the Things Themselves 1
Part I: Philosophy Beyond Things
1 Technology and the Self 15
2 The Thing About Technology 47
Part II: Philosophy From Things
3 Postphenomenology 99
4 A Material Hermeneutic 121
5 The Acts of Artifacts 147
6 Devices and the Good Life 173
Part III: Philosophy For Things
7 Artifacts in Design 203
Bibliography 237
Index 243
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PrefaceandAcknowledgments
Listen more to things than to words that are said.
—Birago Diop, “Breath”
In this book, I aim to answer this call of Birago Diop liter-
ally, by making a philosophical analysis of the relations
between human beings and material objects. Taking things
seriously is not a self-evident thing to do, especially not in
philosophy. Whoever thinks we are living in a materialist
age is wrong. The Western world does not attach as much
value to things as one might expect. The enormous quantity
of prematurely discarded objects at our garbage dumps
bears witness to this. At the level of theory and reflection
as well, materiality is often neglected. Social scientists usually
prefer to occupy themselves with humans, and philosophers
with words and ideas. Yet in the past century all kinds of
new objects, especially technological devices, have come
to play a profound role in what we do, how we perceive
and interpret the world, and what choices and decisions
we make. To understand these activities of things, these
“acts of artifacts,” is the main ambition of this book.
But even a book about things cannot be written with-
out humans who inspire and support it. At this place, I
would like to thank them cordially. My colleagues of the
Department of Philosophy of the University of Twente
form an environment every scholar can be jealous about.
I would especially like to thank Hans Achterhuis, Petran
Kockelkoren, and Pieter Tijmes, for all of our engaged,
congenial, and critical discussions, and H. Floris Cohen
for his stimulating intellectual enthusiasm and his active
support of the realization of this English translation. The
Eternally Yours foundation, with the open and innovative
approach to industrial design of Liesbeth Bonekamp, Ed
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viii | preface and acknowlegments
van Hinte, and Henk Muis, provided a hospitable and fruitful basis for con-
fronting philosophical analysis with the daily practice of product design. A special
word of gratitude goes to Don Ihde, for our inspiring discussions about phe-
nomenology and technology, and for his unremitting efforts for the coming
about of this translation. To Setargew Kenaw Fantaw, I am greatly indebted for
his proficient review of the final manuscript. This translation, carefully rendered
by Robert P. Crease, was made possible by a publication grant from the Nether-
lands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).
Enschede, the Netherlands
November 2004
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Introduction:TotheThingsThemselves
the death of things
What role do artifacts play in our technological culture?
The technological developments of the past century have
made this question more pressing than ever. Our society
is saturated with tools, appliances, and other assorted
objects that strongly shape the course of daily life in many
ways. Our personal interactions are inextricably bound up
with telephones and computers; our traveling with bicycles,
automobiles, trains, and airplanes; our eating with refrig-
erators, ovens, and microwaves; our leisure activities with
televisions, videos, and electronic devices. Even our being
born, staying healthy, and dying depend on a wide variety
of medical instrumentation. What effect do these things
and artifacts have on us? How can we understand their
role in our lives?
Until recently, philosophers have paid scant attention
to this question, preferring to devote their attention to
words and ideas rather than material things. The history
of philosophy since Plato has tended to assign a secondary
status to material and changeable things in favor of eternal
and unchangeable ideas. The “linguistic turn” that philos-
ophy took in the past century is only the most recent
manifestation of this horror materiae.Since this turn, the
language in which human beings speak about reality is
thought to determine what may count as reality. But this
turns things into little more than projection screens for
our interpretations, reduces them to the words with which
we describe them, and fails to give them their due, their