Boys with Toys and Fearful Parents?: The Pedagogical Dimensions of the Discourse in Technology Ethics

Abstract

Based on recent complaints about the neglect of the human in the philosophy of technology, this paper explores the different ways how technology ethics put the relation between the human and the technical on stage. It identifies various similarities in the treatment of the human in technology and the treatment of the child in education and compares Heidegger's concerns about the role of technology with the duplicity of childhood and adulthood in conflicts of adolescence. The findings give reason to assume that technology ethics and pedagogy are closely related. A brief review of selected topics in technology ethics illustrates exemplarily how a pedagogic interpretation of the current discussion can contribute to further progress in the field.