Problemas filosóficos del sustantivismo tecnológico: un abordaje ontológico y político a partir de Jacques Ellul y Jun Tosaka

Fernando Wirtz; Ricardo Andrade

doi:10.22201/fesa.26832917e.2026.7.2.467

Authors

Fernando Wirtz Kyoto University. Departamento de Estudios Transculturales (JP) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0725-7293
Ricardo Andrade Universidad Nacional de Río Negro. Instituto de Estudios en Ciencia, Tecnología, Cultura y Desarrollo. CONICET (AR) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6422-0809

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22201/fesa.26832917e.2026.7.2.467

Keywords:

Technological substantivism, Technopessimism, Technology Philosophy, Technodiversity, Technological Universalism

Abstract

Among the philosophical perspectives that analyze technology, technological substantivism has been one of the most important of the 20th century. Misunderstood and in some cases rejected for its “eminently” pessimistic nature, this approach offers an interpretation that combines ontological and political problems within the framework of contemporary technological phenomena. Issues such as the universalization of technology, cultural homogenization, and tensions arising from the search for alternative forms of technological production are among the many topics addressed by this perspective. The main objective of this article is to analyze some of these themes based on the figures of Jacques Ellul (France) and Jun Tosaka (Japan) in order to delve into the conceptual diversity of this approach. The method of analysis will be exegetical, that is, focused on the interpretation of a selected corpus, which will provide philosophical discussions and useful results for approaching technology from this discipline.

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Author Biographies

Fernando Wirtz, Kyoto University. Departamento de Estudios Transculturales

He holds a degree in Philosophy from Universidad de Buenos Aires and a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Tübingen, Germany. He currently serves as an assistant professor in the Department of Transcultural Studies at Kyoto University, Japan. He has published the monographs Phänomenologie der Angst (2022) and Myth and Ideology (2023) and co-edited the anthologies Después de la Nada (2023), Miki Kiyoshi and the Crisis of Thought (2024), and Philosophies in Lateinamerika: eine Einführung (2024). He also serves as treasurer of the Gesellschaft für Interkulturelle Philosophie and Chief Editor of the Bulletin of Intercultural Philosophy.
Ricardo Andrade, Universidad Nacional de Río Negro. Instituto de Estudios en Ciencia, Tecnología, Cultura y Desarrollo. CONICET

Master's degree in Foreign Language Literature and Comparative Literature from Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA); diploma in Contemporary Philosophical Problems (UBA); and Bachelor's degree in Literature from Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV). He is currently a trainee of theConsejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) and is pursuing his doctorate in Social Sciences and Humanities with a specialization in Social Studies of Science and Technology (UNRN). His current research areas include philosophy of technology (artificial intelligence, human-robot interactions) social robotics, (transhumanism, nanotechnology), among others, philosophy of ecology, astrobioethics, astropolitics, and posthumanism. He has also worked as a researcher in German literature. He has written research articles for national and international journals and has participated in conferences on these fields.

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