Evaluating Hidden Costs of Technological Change: Scaffolding, Agency, and Entrenchment

Martin, Joseph D.

Abstract

This paper explores the process by which new technologies supplant or constrain cultural scaffolding processes and the consequences thereof. As elaborated by Wimsatt and Griesemer, cultural scaffolds support the acquisition of new capabilities by individuals or organizations. When technologies displace scaffolds, those who previously acquired capabilities from them come to rely upon the new technologies to complete tasks they could once accomplish on their own. Therefore, the would-be beneficiaries of those scaffolds are deprived of the agency to exercise the capabilities the scaffolds supported. Evaluating how technologies displace cultural scaffolds can ground philosophical assessments of the cultural value of technologies.

Citation

Martin, J. D. (2015). Evaluating Hidden Costs of Technological Change: Scaffolding, Agency, and Entrenchment. Society for Philosophy & Technology quarterly electronic journal, 19(1), 1-25. https://doi.org/10.5840/techne201522325

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2015
• Deposit Date: Sep 18, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 27, 2019
• Journal: Techné: Research in Philosophy and Technology
• Publisher: Philosophy Documentation Center
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 19
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 1-25
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5840/techne201522325