Simondon's critique of modern anthropocentrism

Abstract

This essay summarizes philosopher Gilbert Simondon's critique of modern anthropocentrism and the conceptions of technology developed in the 20th century by certain philosophical currents that, according to him, stem from what he calls a facile humanism, which circumscribe technical development to instrumental rationality and the distinction between means and ends.  Simondon's proposal to get out of the framework of these visions, which he considers reductionist, is to broaden our view of technique, not to focus on the relationship between means and ends, and to delve into the knowledge of the modes of existence of technical objects. Simondon's view invites us to rethink our relationship with technique and beyond that, to even revise our ontological conceptions in favor of what we know today as relational ontologies. For the French philosopher, technique is a bridge between our ritual past and our present that persists in the co-existence of all living and non-living beings that make up the techno-ecosystem.