Saturday, January 20, 2018

Techne and Moral Evaluation

Techne seems to be a Good, since it means Know-How and Skill, each of which is regarded as an asset.  However, that a hammer might be used to harm someone seems to suggest that Techne has no intrinsic value, with its Moral status contingent on that of an End to which it is a Means.  But, an End can be pursued either skillfully or not, i. e. knowing how to resolve a problem with someone better than by attacking them with hammer.  So, the contingency in such cases is that of one exercise of Techne with respect to another.  Likewise, in a criticism of 'technology', either in a specific use, or in general.  In other words, if, as Aristotle holds, the locus of Moral judgment is not what one does, but how one does it, then Techne can be the basis of Moral Evaluation, classified as Morality of Character.

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