Toward a normative‐contextualist theory of technology

Abstract

Observing an impasse within research on “information age”¹ technologies, the paper borrows from current moral philosophy as a basis for reorienting these discussions. Exploration of a contextualist position produces a call for a normative stance that privileges concern for the technological impact upon the conditions of self‐knowledge over concern with conditions of access or choice. An ethnographic, diagnostic approach is advocated for analyzing social meanings associated with contemporary technologies; and a normatively‐based theoretical framework is outlined to guide research into how communications technologies may serve or impede the goals of identity, orientation, self‐knowledge, and community.