Systems Thinking and the Disclosure of a Technological Society: Some Philosophical Reflections

This paper resulted from an interdisciplinary research project named 'Disclosive Systems Thinking' that aimed at stimulating cooperation and exchange between research in systems methodology on the one hand and philosophy, particularly philosophy of technology, on the other. Against the background of the history of the philosophy of technology, a proposal is made for an 'integrative' approach to technology. Two ideas are introduced that are fundamental to an integrative philosophy of technology. First, emphasis is laid on the systems dimensions of modern technology. Sociotechnical systems are identified as the environment of our lives in a modern 'technological' society. Second, the idea of the 'disclosure' of a technological society is advanced as implying a process of structuring and restructuring the variety of systems in our technological society in a way that contributes to the opening up of human life. Finally, 'disclosive systems thinking' is proposed as a practice-oriented systems methodology that differs fundamentally both from 'hard' and 'soft' systems thinking in its view on normativity and human values. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.