Before the Crane Took Flight: Interview with Chinese Philosopher of Technology Yuan Deyu

Abstract

: Yuan Deyu is one of the founders of the ″Northeastern School″ of Chinese philosophy of technology and has proposed the ″ technology form theory″ and ″technology as process″ as key ideas for understanding technology in the Chinese context. This is the second time that Yuan has been interviewed by Carl Mitcham, one of the greatest living Western philosophers of technology. In the first interview, published in 2018 in the same journal, Yuan recounted how and when the Chinese philosophy of technology originated from the very beginning, in what kind of context it developed and what its current dilemma, etc., based on his own engagement, correcting some of the current discussions about Chinese philosophy of technology among scholars both Chinese and Western, such as whether there should be an empirical turn for Chinese philosophy of technology or does it originated from a book or article, etc. In order to have a comprehensive understanding of both him as an important Chinese philosopher of technology and Chinese philosophy of technology, in this interview, we followed up with further questions of a more personal character, especially about his life. As we all know, a person′s life experience will have a great impact on how he perceive the world. In the beginning, Yuan recalled his personal growth, family background, and work experience, which provide a broad context for contemporary philosophers of technology to better understand the unique characteristics, themes, and methods of Chinese philosophy of technology. He shared his memories of how his acquaintance with Chen Changshu grew into close friendship. They co-authored many books and articles to call for independent academic attention to technology, which turned out to promote the development of Chinese philosophy of technology and determined the characteristics of Northeastern school. He also highly praised Chen’s monograph, “Introduction to Philosophy of Technology.” Yuan pointed out that his thoughts on technology were primarily influenced by the research of Japanese scholars on technology theory, which is why he preferred to classify his research in the field of sociology of technology rather than philosophy of technology. He recalled the various academic efforts he had made with a group of scholars in the 1980s to promote technology as an independent research object, reconstructing the complete historical development of early Chinese philosophy of technology. Additionally, he also brought attention to the morphological differences between ancient China and the West in expressing human understanding of nature, based on scientific formality. He illuminated the fact that ancient China primarily emphasized practical, empirical knowledge about natural phenomena. In his view, Confucian philosophy has had a profound impact on the development of Chinese technology due to its constraints on research themes within ancient Chinese society.