ABSTRACT
The development of Continental philosophy of technology in the 21st century is in part synonymous with a renewal of interest in technology as a whole, in contrast to specific technologies and particular human-technology-world relations that have largely been the focus of reflection since the field’s “empirical turn”. This chapter considers the implications of this interest for current engineering practices. In particular, it sets an overview of some selected work in contemporary philosophy of technology in the Continental tradition against a discussion of some understandings of the human subject upon which the practices of contemporary professional engineering increasingly rely and sustain. The overall purpose of this juxtaposition is to illuminate how the subject of engineering is increasingly the subject for engineering, the implications of this shift, and the role that rethinking technology as a whole might contribute to the creation of an alternative view.
