The Society for Philosophy and Technology (SPT) is an independent international

organization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...

founded in 1976 whose purpose is to promote philosophical consideration of

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...

. SPT publishes '' Techné: Research in Philosophy and Technology'', a tri-annual scientific journal.

History

* 1975: Newsletter launched: formation of SPT and establishing the journal Techné in years to follow * 1978: Annual Book Series Research in Philosophy of Technology was launched * 1981: Actual organization of SPT with the first biennial international meeting organized by Fritz Rapp in Bad Homberg, Germany * 1995: The first issue of Techné * 2010: Techné is published by the Philosophy Documentation Center

Presidents

A new president for the Society for Philosophy and Technology is chosen every two years (except in 1995). * 1981:

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 ...

* 1983:

Alex Michalos Alexandros Charles Michalos (born August 1, 1935) is a Canadian political scientist and philosopher known for his work in quality of life research. He is professor emeritus of political science and former chancellor at the University of Northern ...

* 1985:

Kristin Shrader-Frechette Kristin Shrader-Frechette (born 1944) is O'Neill Family Professor, Department of Biological Sciences and Department of Philosophy, at the University of Notre Dame. She has previously held senior professorships at the University of California and t ...

* 1987:

Marx Wartofsky Marx W. Wartofsky (1928–1997) was an American philosopher, specialising in historical epistemology. He was a professor of philosophy at Baruch College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and the editor of ''The Philoso ...

* 1989: Langdon Winner * 1991: Joseph C. Pitt * 1993: Jose Sanmartin * 1997: Paul Durbin * 1999: Deborah Johnson * 2001: Andrew Light * 2003: Paul Thompson * 2005: Peter Kroes * 2007: Diane Michelfelder * 2009:

Philip Brey Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

* 2011:

Sven Ove Hansson Sven Ove Hansson (born 1951) is a Swedish philosopher. He is a professor of philosophy and chair of the Department of Philosophy and History of Technology at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden. He is an author and scientif ...

* 2013:

Peter-Paul Verbeek Peter-Paul Verbeek (born 6 December 1970, in Middelburg) is Rector Magnificus of the University of Amsterdam and Professor of Philosophy and Ethics of Science and Technology in a Changing World since 1 October 2022. Prior to his appointment i ...

* 2015: Shannon Vallor * 2017:

Mark Coeckelbergh Mark Coeckelbergh (born 1975) is a Belgian Philosophy of technology, philosopher of technology. He is Professor of Philosophy of Media and Technology at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Vienna and former President of the Society ...

* 2019: Pieter E. Vermaas * 2021: Inmaculada de Melo-Martín * 2023: President-Elect Robert Rosenberger

SPT conferences

* 1981: Bad Homberg, Germany: Joint German-American Conference (Rapp), Germany, Organizer: Fritz Rapp * 1983: Polytechnic Institute of New York, NYC, USA, Organizer: Carl Mitcham * 1985: University of Twente, Netherlands, Organizer: Louk Fleishacker of Free University, Amsterdam * 1987: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, Organizer: Joe Pitt * 1989: Bordeaux, France, Organizer: Daniel Cerezuelle * 1991: University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, Organizer: Elena Lugo * 1993: Peniscola (Valencia), Spain, Organizer: Jose Sanmartin * 1995: Hofstra University, Long Island, New York, USA * 1996: Puebla, Mexico, Organizer: Raul Gutierrez * 1997: University of Düsseldorf, Germany, Organizer: Alois Huning * 1999: University of California, San Jose / Silicon Valley, USA, Organizer: Noam Cook * 2001: Aberdeen, Scotland, Organizer: Andrew Light * 2003: Park City, Utah, USA, Organizer: Diane Michelfelder * 2005: Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands, Organizer: Peter Kroes * 2007: USC/VT, Charleston, South Carolina, USA, Organizers: Davis Baird, Ann Johnson, Joe Pitt * 2009: University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands, Organizers: Philip Brey, Tsjalling Swierstra, Peter-Paul Verbeek, Katinka Waelbers * 2011: University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, USA, Organizers: David Kaplan and Adam Briggle * 2013: in Lisbon, Portugal * 2015: NEU International Hotel, Shenyang, China * 2017: Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany, Organizers: Alfred Nordmann and Sabine Ammon * 2019: Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA, Organizers: Martin Peterson (Chair), Deb Banerjee, Jonathan Coopersmith, Glen Miller, Gregory Pappas, Linda Radzik * 2021 (Planned): Lille, France

Pre-SPT events

* 1965: symposium at 8th annual SHOT (with AAAS) meeting in San Francisco * 1973: international conference on history and philosophy of technology, University of Illinois * 1975: University of Delaware (Paul T. Durbin): first meeting of philosophers interested in technology, organized with much help from Carl Mitcham * 1977: 2d UD meeting, at which they talked about a society and established a newsletter (with Durbin as first editor), as well as set in motion meetings jointly with APA sections, and an election some time before the end of 1980. (First candidates were Carl Mitcham, who won, and Mario Bunge.) * 1978: First APA Eastern meeting. Also first volume in RESEARCH IN PHILOSOPHY AND TECHNOLOGY (Johnson) series.

References

External links

SPT website

''Techné: Research in Philosophy and Technology''
{{Authority control Philosophy of technology International learned societies Philosophical societies