An Inquiry into the Meaning and Essence of Technology

Most definitions of technology offer simple and unobstructed descriptions of this term, while some of them also add a description of technology’s essence, the latter of which has also been questioned by some authors. In light of the foregoing, this paper has two tasks: 1) to define technology for both its material and immaterial effects, making note of tools, devices, machines, and apparatuses on the one hand, and procedures, organisations, methods, and strategies on the other, and 2) to discuss and identify its essence. In this twofold attempt, the relationship between definition and essence is analysed. Apart from any underlying complexity, this relationship indicates that essence means something other than a simple definition because definition and essence are not conterminous.