page_title: Philosophy of technology
section_title: Middle ages to 19th century
hierarchical_section_title: Philosophy of technology / History / Middle ages to 19th century
caption_attribution_description: Francis Bacon, Viscount St Alban, by unknown artist. See source website for additional information. Portrait of Francis Bacon, Viscount St Alban, by John Vanderbank, 1731?, after a portrait by an unknown artist (circa 1618) This set of images was gathered by User:Dcoetzee from the National Portrait Gallery, London website using a special tool. All images in this batch have an unknown author, but there is strong evidence it was first published before 1923 (based mainly on the NPG's estimated date of the work).
context_page_description: The philosophy of technology is a sub-field of philosophy that studies the nature of technology and its social effects.
  Philosophical discussion of questions relating to technology dates back to the very dawn of Western philosophy. The phrase "philosophy of technology" was first used in the late 19th century by German-born philosopher and geographer Ernst Kapp, who published a book titled "Grundlinien einer Philosophie der Technik".
context_section_description: During the period of the Roman empire and late antiquity authors produced practical works such as Vitruvius' De Architectura (1st century BC) and Agricola's De Re Metallica (1556). Medieval Scholastic philosophy generally upheld the traditional view of technology as imitation of nature. During the Renaissance, Francis Bacon became one of the first modern authors to reflect on the impact of technology on society. In his utopian work New Atlantis (1627), Bacon put forth an optimistic worldview in which a fictional institution (Salomon's House) uses natural philosophy and technology to extend man's power over nature - for the betterment of society, through works which improve living conditions. The goal of this fictional foundation is "...the knowledge of causes, and secret motions of things; and the enlarging of the bounds of human empire, to the effecting of all things possible".
caption: Sir Francis Bacon
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