Günter Ropohl (14 June 1939 in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

, Germany – 28 January 2017) was a German philosopher of technology.

Biography

Günter Ropohl studied

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

and philosophy at

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

University, where he was a scholar of the philosopher

Max Bense Max Bense (7 February 1910 in Strasbourg – 29 April 1990 in Stuttgart) was a German philosopher, writer, and publicist, known for his work in philosophy of science, logic, aesthetics, and semiotics. His thoughts combine natural sciences, art, an ...

. After his PhD ( Dr.-Ing.) in 1970, he wrote his

Habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

thesis in Philosophy und Sociology at Karlsruhe University 1978 under the supervision of Hans Lenk. His work dealt with the

systems theory Systems theory is the Transdisciplinarity, transdisciplinary study of systems, i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent components that can be natural or artificial. Every system has causal boundaries, is influenced by its context, de ...

of " Technik" (engl. ''technique''), leading to the concept of general technology. In 1979, Ropohl became professor at the Universität Karlsruhe (TH). Soon after, in 1981, he became professor for Allgemeine Technologie (general technology) and

philosophy of technology The philosophy of technology is a sub-field of philosophy that studies the nature of technology and its social effects. Philosophical discussion of questions relating to technology (or its Greek ancestor ''techne'') dates back to the very dawn of ...

at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, Germany (until 2004). In the 1980s, he visited his colleague and friend

Carl Mitcham Carl Mitcham (born 1941) is a philosopher of engineering and technology, Professor Emeritus of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at the Colorado School of Mines and Visiting International Professor of Philosophy of Technology at Renmin Univers ...

in the United States. From 1983 to 1991, i.e. during the period of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, he was course director and visiting lecturer at the Inter-University Centre Dubrovnik (

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

). In 1988, he was invited as visiting professor at the

Rochester Institute of Technology The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in Henrietta, New York, a suburb of Rochester, New York, Rochester. It was founded in 1829. It is one of only two institute of technology, institut ...

, Rochester NY. Ropohl was an honorary member of the German Engineering Association ( VDI), due to his interdisciplinary engagement for the philosophy of technology. He was co-editor of an anthology of the ''classics'' in the philosophy of technology in a Continental-European tradition. Ropohl published 15 monographs, (co-)edited another 15 books and published more than 180 articles. He died on 28 January 2017 at the age of 77.

Philosophy

A central concept in his work was

sociotechnical systems Sociotechnical systems (STS) in organizational development is an approach to complex organizational work design that recognizes the interaction between people and technology in workplaces. The term also refers to coherent systems of human relati ...

, i.e. he regarded techniques as societal structures. Ropohl was a critic of the systems theory of

Niklas Luhmann Niklas Luhmann (; ; December 8, 1927 – November 11, 1998) was a German sociologist, philosopher of social science, and systems theorist. Niklas Luhmann is one of the most influential German sociologists of the 20th century. His thinking was ...

and voted for the recognition of

material culture Material culture is culture manifested by the Artifact (archaeology), physical objects and architecture of a society. The term is primarily used in archaeology and anthropology, but is also of interest to sociology, geography and history. The fie ...

. His definition of (''German'') "Technik" included a) the

utility In economics, utility is a measure of a certain person's satisfaction from a certain state of the world. Over time, the term has been used with at least two meanings. * In a normative context, utility refers to a goal or objective that we wish ...

, b) artificiality and c) functionality. In the focus of his work is the combination of technique as artefact and

action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

, whereas

knowledge Knowledge is an Declarative knowledge, awareness of facts, a Knowledge by acquaintance, familiarity with individuals and situations, or a Procedural knowledge, practical skill. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is oft ...

insinuates the meta-concept of

technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

. Therefore, he differentiated between engineering sciences and technical sciences.Günter Ropohl, ''Eine Systemtheorie der Technik'', 1979, p. 34f. Ropohl was well known in the German-speaking academia for his writings on the concepts of ''Technik'' and ''Technologie'', the ethics of technology,

technology assessment Technology assessment (TA, , ) is a practical process of determining the value of a new or emerging technology in and of itself or against existing technologies. This is a means of assessing and rating the new technology from the time when it w ...

, professional ethics for engineers and on the societal need for educating towards technology literacy. He received a

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

with contributions from academic scholars, focusing on his work and related discourses, both on his 65th and 75th birthday (edited by Nicole C. Karafyllis, see literature), including a complete list of his publications from the late 1960s to 2014.

Selected publications in English

* Article on systems-theoretical approaches and morphological methods in forecasting, in; ''Technological Forecastings in Practice'', Farnborough/Lexington, MA: Saxon Jouse 1973, pp. 29–38. * Article in ''Research in Philosophy and Technology'', Vol. 2, ed. P. T. Durbin, Greenwich, CT: Jai Press 1979, pp. 15–52. * "Information doesn't make sense", in

and Alois Huning (Eds.): ''Philosophy and Technology II: Information Technology and Computers in Theory and Practice'', Dordrecht/Boston MA 1986, pp. 63–74. * "Deficiencies in Engineering Education", in P. T. Durbin (Ed.), ''Critical Perspectives on Nonacademic Science and Engineering'', Bethlehem, PA: Lehigh University Press and London/Toronto: Associated University Presses 1991, pp. 278–295. * "Knowledge Types in Technology", in: M.J. de Vries & A. Tamir (Eds.), ''Shaping Concepts of Technology. From Philosophical Perspective to Mental Images'', Dordrecht 1997. * "Technological enlightenment as a continuation of modern thinking", in Carl Mitcham (Ed.): Research in philosophy and technology, vol. 17, ''Technology, ethics and culture'', Creenwich CT/London: Jai Press 1998, pp. 239–248.
Philosophy of socio-technical systems
in: ''Society for Philosophy and Technology'', Spring 1999, Volume 4, Number 3, 1999. * "Mixed prospects of engineering ethics". ''European Journal of Engineering Education'', 27 (2) (2002), pp. 149–155.

Monographs in German

* Flexible Fertigungssysteme : zur Automatisierung der Serienfertigung. Mainz: Krausskopf 1971 (= Produktionstechnik heute 1, ed. H. J. Warnecke; dissertation Universität Stuttgart 1970) * Eine Systemtheorie der Technik : zur Grundlegung der Allgemeinen Technologie. München/Wien: Hanser 1979 (

Habilitationsschrift Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

Universität Karlsruhe 1978). 2nd ed. 1999, 3rd ed. Karlsruhe 2009. * Die unvollkommene Technik. Frankfurt/M: Suhrkamp 1985 * Technologische Aufklärung : Beiträge zur Technikphilosophie. Frankfurt/M: Suhrkamp 1991, 2nd ed. 1999 * Ethik und Technikbewertung. Frankfurt/M: Suhrkamp 1996 * Wie die Technik zur Vernunft kommt : Beiträge zum Paradigmenwechsel in den Technikwissenschaften. Amsterdam: G+B Fakultas 1998 * Vom Wert der Technik. Stuttgart: Kreuz Verlag 2003 * Sinnbausteine : Ein weltlicher Katechismus. Leipzig: Reclam 2003 * Arbeits- und Techniklehre : Philosophische Beiträge zur technologischen Bildung. Berlin: Edition Sigma 2004 * Kleinzeug : Satiren – Limericks – Aphorismen. Münster: LIT Verlag 2004 * Allgemeine Technologie : Eine Systemtheorie der Technik. 3rd ed. of the 1979 book, Karlsruhe: Universitätsverlag 2009; http://digbib.ubka.uni-karlsruhe.de/volltexte/1000011529 * Signaturen der technischen Welt : Neue Beiträge zur Technikphilosophie, Berlin/Münster: LIT Verlag 2009 * Besorgnisgesellschaft, Berlin: Parodos 2014

Books about his work

* Karl Eugen Kurrer: ''The history of the theory of structures'', Ernst & Sohn 2008, pp. 148–152. * Nicole C. Karafyllis/Tilmann Haar (Eds.): ''Technikphilosophie im Aufbruch.

für Günter Ropohl.'' Berlin: Edition Sigma, 2004 (in German; includes a complete list of his publications from the late 1960s to 2004). * Nicole C. Karafyllis (Ed.): ''Das Leben führen? Lebensführung zwischen Technikphilosophie und Lebensphilosophie. Für Günter Ropohl zum 75. Geburtstag.'' Berlin: Edition sigma, 2014 (in German,

for Ropohl's 75th birthday; continues in the appendix the list of publications 2004-2014) * Elisabeth Gräb-Schmidt: ''Technikethik und ihre Fundamente. Dargestellt in Auseinandersetzung mit den technikethischen Ansätzen von Günter Ropohl und Walter Zimmerli''. De Gruyter 2002. * Friedrich Rapp:
Philosophy of Technology after twenty years: A German perspective
, ''Society for Philosophy and Technology'', 1995.

External links

* Josef Bordat
Mensch, Natur, Handlung. Zu Ropohls Systemtheorie der Technik. 2001.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ropohl, Gunter 1939 births 2017 deaths German male writers 20th-century German philosophers 21st-century German philosophers Academic staff of Goethe University Frankfurt Academic staff of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Writers from Cologne German philosophers of technology Rochester Institute of Technology faculty Scientists in technology assessment and policy University of Stuttgart alumni Academic staff of the University of Dubrovnik