{"title":"Technological Remedies for Social Problems: Defining and Demarcating Techno-Fixes and Techno-Solutionism.","authors":"Henrik Skaug Sætra, Evan Selinger","doi":"10.1007/s11948-024-00524-x","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Can technology resolve social problems by reducing them to engineering challenges? In the 1960s, Alvin Weinberg answered yes, popularizing the term \"techno-fix\" in the process. The concept was immediately criticized and over time evolved into a disparaging term-a synonym for unrealistic technological proposals and their advocates. As the debate progressed, skepticism grew to include condemnation of a related term: \"techno-solutionism.\" Despite extensive criticism, both \"techno-fix\" and \"techno-solutionism\" remain ill-defined concepts. In this article, we provide more precise definitions and clearly distinguish between techno-fixes and techno-solutionism through conceptual engineering. By refining these concepts, we aim to advance the discussion and lay the groundwork for more productive analyses of the role of technology in solving social problems.</p>","PeriodicalId":49564,"journal":{"name":"Science and Engineering Ethics","volume":"30 6","pages":"60"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7000,"publicationDate":"2024-12-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11611926/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Science and Engineering Ethics","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-024-00524-x","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENGINEERING, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Can technology resolve social problems by reducing them to engineering challenges? In the 1960s, Alvin Weinberg answered yes, popularizing the term "techno-fix" in the process. The concept was immediately criticized and over time evolved into a disparaging term-a synonym for unrealistic technological proposals and their advocates. As the debate progressed, skepticism grew to include condemnation of a related term: "techno-solutionism." Despite extensive criticism, both "techno-fix" and "techno-solutionism" remain ill-defined concepts. In this article, we provide more precise definitions and clearly distinguish between techno-fixes and techno-solutionism through conceptual engineering. By refining these concepts, we aim to advance the discussion and lay the groundwork for more productive analyses of the role of technology in solving social problems.
期刊介绍：
Science and Engineering Ethics is an international multidisciplinary journal dedicated to exploring ethical issues associated with science and engineering, covering professional education, research and practice as well as the effects of technological innovations and research findings on society.
While the focus of this journal is on science and engineering, contributions from a broad range of disciplines, including social sciences and humanities, are welcomed. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, ethics of new and emerging technologies, research ethics, computer ethics, energy ethics, animals and human subjects ethics, ethics education in science and engineering, ethics in design, biomedical ethics, values in technology and innovation.
We welcome contributions that deal with these issues from an international perspective, particularly from countries that are underrepresented in these discussions.
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