Platonic information technology-reading Plato: cultural influences and philosophical reflection on information and technology

摘要

The essence of technology has been well studied, but its newer forms of biotechnology and information technology (IT) are discussed much less. Plato and Aristotle as representatives of our heritage from the Greek thought are proposed as an alternative to the confusing plurality of later philosophical schools for understanding these new forms. This paper is based on a reading of Plato's collected works in view of their relevance for understanding information as knowledge, and for the design of social systems. A couple of selected and edited excerpts out of these works are analyzed and commented in order to show their relevance for current issues of information technology, including its definition, evaluation, and relation to the problems of stability and change. Finally, the criticism of Plato found in a postmodern or "amodern-nonmodern" approach to science studies is briefly considered in order to confirm the continuing relevance of Plato's thought.