Constructivism and technology critique: Replies to critics

1. Thomson's critique: Despite the efforts of his followers to show that He idegger had a progressive theory of technology, his work is clouded by nost algia. His positive contribution is a fragmentary opening toward a phenomen ology of daily technical practice, which I use to develop de Certeau's dist inction between the strategic control of technical systems and their tactic al usage by subordinates. Heidegger himself made no such application of his own phenomenological approach. 2. Stump's critique: Can an ontological ess entialism and a historically oriented constructivism be combined as Questio ning Technology attempts to do? Stump claims they cannot, but assumes that I accept far more ontolgoical and epistemological baggage from each positio n than I do. In fact, what I retain from essentialism is primarily the anal ysis of the basic technical relation to reality, and from constructivism, h istorical and hermeneutic methods of analysis of the realization of that re lation in actual systems and devices. These elements of the two theories ar e compatible.