Relevance of N. Luhmann's theory of social systems to understand the essence of technology today. The Case of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill: Para Alberto

Abstract

Technological advancement has dramatically changed the praxis. Nowadays human agents share the phenomenological ground with a variety of social systems, gadgets, cyborgs and human extensions, which modify the conditions of freedom and ethical responsibility. Subjectivity is no longer restricted to the human individual. This article argues that newer modalities of agency are left without proper observation. To this end, the piece offers a general description of the dominant paradigm for understanding technology, featuring intentionalism. Then, the article compares the paradigm selectively with a second perspective, critical-realist analysis of technology. The comparison allows arguing that anthropocentric theories of technology cannot fully apprehend the mode of functioning that current technology has, neither can it fully understand the risks that it entails. The article proposes then an alternative framework using Luhmann's theory of social systems and submits a structural explanation of the Gulf of Mexico's oil spillage to indicate that Bimber's account of technological determinism explains well the technological status of our times.