Technological society and the prosthetic alteration of the human being

Abstract

The human-technology relationship may be helpful or harmful tor human life, and technologies may be conceived in terms of tools and prostheses. Prostheses replace something the human is lacking, while tools enable. Contemporary technological society promotes prosthetic dependency by privileging the machine over the human, and consequently judging the human by the standards of the machine. Prostheses, when not converted to tools, may hinder human life by inhibiting the individual's ability to experience the world. Prosthesis, as a substitute for experience and personal judgment, potentially endangers personhood.