Technical Gadgetry
Technological Development in the Aesthetic Economy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4480756 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gernot Bohme (Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany,, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2006 |
| Volume | 86 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 54-66 |
| Publication date | 2006-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Thesis Eleven (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0725-5136 • E-ISSN: 1461-7455 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0725513606066240 |
| OpenAlex | W2095846260 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 5 |
The conception of the nature of modern technology and the understanding of its history is largely determined by Marx: technology is instrumental appropriation of nature and its development was driven by the bourgeoisie and capitalism. To this familiar conception the article opposes the concept of two technology types, which we find in the early modern engineer Salomon de Caus: useful and enjoyable technology. Enjoyable technology, which serves pleasure and not production, originates in the orientation to curiosities and representation at royal courts, limited neither by guild conservatism nor by considerations of profit. Precisely for this reason courtly technology was particularly creative. Against this historical background the article examines contemporary technological developments in the period of the transformation of capitalism into the aesthetic economy, in which technology development (apart from war) increasingly serves pleasure. Technology becomes plaything and life-style gadget. An explicit consumption of technology has emerged, in which Marx's ideal obsolescence plays a leading role
Aesthetics · Appropriation · Bourgeoisie · Business · Capitalism · Conservatism · Creativity · Economic system · Economics · Epistemology · Generativity · History of technology · Industrial Revolution · Neoclassical economics · Obsolescence · Pleasure · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Productive forces · Sociology · Technological change · Cultural Studies and Postmodernism · Digital Media and Philosophy · History · Law · Philosophy
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,25 |
| Citation span | 2010 - 2020 (11) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |