Technological rationality

Technological rationality is a philosophical idea postulated by Herbert Marcuse in his 1941 article, "Some Implications of Modern Technology", published first in the journal Studies in Philosophy and Social Sciences, Vol. IX. It gained mainstream repute and a more holistic treatment in his 1964 book One-Dimensional Man.

It posits that rational decisions to incorporate technological advances into society can, once the technology is ubiquitous, change what is considered rational within that society.

An idea created out of the Frankfurt School by Marcuse who coined the term 'technological rationality' in his 1964 book One-Dimensional man. It describes a system that he believed was fundamentally irrational in that it operates on the basis of creating false need. This produces 'The Happy Consciousness', the belief that the real is rational and that the system produces the goods.

See also

• Communicative rationality