Technology Analysis and the Need of a Value Framework

The idea that technology is only a value-neutral instrument that can be used for good and bad purposes is not tenable anymore. Technology shapes our human life in all its dimensions and determines the direction of social changes. In the paper, I first show a few arguments in favor of the value-ladenness of technology and then approaches developed in response to that fact. I will argue that none of those responses is satisfactory, for they lack a formative value framework that would serve for decisions and their justification in the realm of technology development. Building such a framework requires a transdisciplinary and cooperative effort.