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Carney Phd Thesis 2018 University of Dundee DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Technologies in Practice Paul Ricoeur and the Hermeneutics of Technique Carney, Eoin Award date: 2018 Link to publication General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 01. Oct. 2021 Technologies in Practice Paul Ricoeur and the Hermeneutics of Technique Eoin Carney Department of Philosophy University of Dundee [Grab your reader’s attention with a great quote from the document or use this space to emphasize a key point. To place this text box anywhere on the page, just drag it.] A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy January, 2018 i CONTENTS Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................................... iii Abstract ................................................................................................................................................................ v Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 1 Section 1: Ricoeur and Technology ....................................................................................................... 12 1. Hermeneutics and the Question of Technique ............................................................................................ 13 1.1 A Hermeneutic Critique of Technology .................................................................................................. 13 1.2 The Art of Hermeneutics ........................................................................................................................ 22 1.2.1 Relating Technology to Practice ...................................................................................................... 23 1.2.2 Application and the Machine ........................................................................................................... 27 Section 2: Application and Distanciation ............................................................................................ 38 2. Signs, Structures and their Applications ....................................................................................................... 39 2.1 Distance and Communication ................................................................................................................ 41 2.1.1 The Hermeneutic Problem of Signs ................................................................................................. 44 2.2 Structuration and Participation ............................................................................................................. 52 2.2.1 Meaning and Significance ................................................................................................................ 54 2.2.2 The Spiral of Understanding ............................................................................................................ 61 Section 3: Hermeneutic Technique ........................................................................................................ 66 3. Technique and Psychoanalysis ..................................................................................................................... 69 3.1 Technique and Interpretation ................................................................................................................ 72 3.2 Technique and Nontechnique ................................................................................................................ 77 3.3 The Playground of Transference ............................................................................................................ 80 3.4 The Fractured Dialectic .......................................................................................................................... 87 4. Narrated Worlds ........................................................................................................................................... 94 4.1 Technology and Time ............................................................................................................................. 97 4.1.1 Time and Planning ......................................................................................................................... 100 4.1.2 Technology and Worldhood .......................................................................................................... 103 4.2 Features of the Narrative Object ......................................................................................................... 107 4.2.1 Integration ..................................................................................................................................... 110 4.2.2 Intelligibility ................................................................................................................................... 115 4.2.3 Production ..................................................................................................................................... 117 Section 4: Technological Application ................................................................................................. 125 5. The Device .................................................................................................................................................. 129 5.1 Things and Devices ............................................................................................................................... 131 ii 5.2 Uncertain Applications ......................................................................................................................... 137 5.2.1 Designing with Conviction ............................................................................................................. 139 5.2.2 Deinon Phronēsis ........................................................................................................................... 145 6. The Interface .............................................................................................................................................. 151 6.1 The Utopia of Functionality – Interface and Representation............................................................... 153 6.2 The Utopia of Dysfunctionality – Interface and Presentation 1 ........................................................... 158 6.3 Constructing a Common Ground – Interface and Presentation 2........................................................ 165 7. Appropriating Technics .............................................................................................................................. 175 7.1 The World of the Text and the Associated Milieu of Technology ........................................................ 178 7.2 Emancipation through Appropriation .................................................................................................. 185 7.2.1 Play: Transformations of Technology ............................................................................................ 189 7.2.2 Play: Transformations of the Self ................................................................................................... 194 Concluding Comments ................................................................................................................................ 200 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................... 208 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS No work is completed in isolation. I could not have reached this point without the support and guidance of the following people. Firstly, I wish to thank my supervisors: Todd Mei, Nicholas Davey and Dominic Smith. All of whom contributed greatly to the subject matter of this thesis. As primary supervisors, Nicolas and Todd have participated in innumerable discussions with me. I will continue to reflect on and be thankful for these conversations and insights well into the future. In particular, I would like to thank Todd for his perfect mix of rigour and care, and for sticking by me even after moving universities, Nicolas for his challenging brilliance, and Dom for his kindness and imagination. I would like to thank the Ricoeur Society and all its members for making me feel at home, especially Professors Maureen Junker-Kenny, George Taylor and Brad DeFord. Ricoeur conferences were always a joy to attend, thanks to the friendship of Marjolaine, Andrew, Geoffrey, Christina, Paulo, Camilla, Maria, and many others. I would also like to acknowledge the debt owed to all my close friends in Dundee who supported and entertained me over my years of study, especially my wonderful flatmates Mehdi, Scott, Tomas, Magda,
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