About
The philosophy of technology analyses the nature of technology and its social effects. More specially, it addresses issues regarding the making and using of technical artefacts from ontological, ethical, and aesthetic point of view: it questions “what technology is” and what its objects are; what makes technology ethically problematic or whether it itself possesses moral qualities; what makes at least some technological products beautiful and aesthetically pleasing to us.
One of the central issues in ontology about technology concerns the nature of artificial beings. A basic ontological category, in this sense, is that of artefacts, within which find their place paradigmatic technological entities such as tools and machines, as well as abstract artefacts such as computer programs and industrial processes. Moreover, as a human practice, technology has a significant connection to both science and art that are worth exploring. On the one hand, technology often relies on science, especially in the case of engineering, understood as that sophisticated form of technology that explicitly applies scientific knowledge to practical purposes. On the other hand, technology, as an outcome of human creativity, can intersect art, giving rise to artistic media such as photography and cinema in which the aesthetic dimension and the technological dimension overlap.
Also, the philosophy of technology explores the question of what is “right”, “just”, “unfair” or unethical in the technological practice. It studies how to analyse the ethics codes and good practice in the process of decision-making for promoting the autonomy, transparency, and trustworthiness in the context of technology development.
Relevant Publications
Books
2022, E. Terrone – V. Tripodi (eds), Being and Value in Technology, Palgrave-McMillan,Cham, Switzerland.
2020, V. Tripodi, Etica delle tecniche. Una filosofia per progettare il futuro, collana “Scienza e Filosofia” diretta da Armando Massarenti, Mondadori Editore, Milano.
2019, E. Terrone, Filosofia dell’ingegneria, il Mulino, Bologna.
Book Chapters
2022, E. Terrone, The Cyberspace Strikes Back: An Ontological Account of Social Networks, in E. Terrone – V. Tripodi (eds), Being and Value in Technology, Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, Switzerland, pp. 27-43.
2022, V. Tripodi, The Right and Unfair Aspects of Artificial Womb Technology, in E. Terrone – V. Tripodi (eds), Being and Value in Technology, Palgrave-McMillan, Cham, Switzerland, pp. 93-113.
2020, V. Tripodi, (co-authored with D. Rose, E. Machery, S. Stich et al.), The Ship of Theseus Puzzle, in T. Lombrozo, S. Nichols and J. Knobe (eds.), Oxford Studies in Experimental Philosophy, Volume 3.
Papers
2019, V. Tripodi (co-authored with Ivar R. Hannikainen, Edouard Machery, David Rose, Stephen Stich et al.), For whom does determinism undermine moral responsibility? Surveying the conditions for free will across cultures, “Frontiers in Psychology”, section Cognitive Science. Article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02428. Available online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02428/full
2019, V. Tripodi (co-authored with F. Cova, C. Olivola, E. Machery, S. Stich et al), De pulchritudine non est disputandum? A cross-cultural investigation of the alleged intersubjective validity of aesthetic judgment, “Mind & Language”, Vol. 34, Issue 3, pp. 317-338. Article DOI: 10.1111/mila.12210.
2019, V. Tripodi (co-authored with D. Rose, E. Machery, S. Stich et al), Nothing at Stake in Knowledge, “Noûs”, Vol. 53, Issue 1, pp. 224-247. Online ISSN: 1468-0068. Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/nous.12211.
2017, V. Tripodi (co-authored with D. Rose, E. Machery, S. Stich et al), Behavioral Circumscription and the Folk Psychology of Belief: A Study in Ethno-Mentalizing, “Thought: A Journal of Philosophy”, Vol. 6, Issue 3, pp. 193-203. Online ISSN: 2161-2234. Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/tht3.248.
2017, V. Tripodi (co-authored with E. Machery, S. Stich, D. Rose et al), The Gettier Intuition from South America to Asia, a special issue edited by Joshua Knobe et al, “Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research”, Vol. 34, Issue 3, pp. 517-541. Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40961-017-0113-y.