For Eco-Technology. Thinking Beyond Techno-Solutionism and Technophobic Ecologism

Resumo

The article examines the notion of ecotechnology as a way of overcoming the sterile opposition between naïve technosolutionism and technophobic ecologism, through a critical dialogue with the philosophy of Gilbert Simondon. The authors start from the observation that, in the context of the global ecological crisis, the question of “technologies of the future” is not merely technical or economic, but above all a question of meaning, tied to the very possibility of believing in a shared future. Ecotechnology is presented as an effort to reconcile technology and ecology, implying a redefinition of progress. Against the modern idea of progress as an unlimited increase in power, a “principle of lesser power” is proposed, according to which the future value of a technology must be assessed in terms of its scalar relations, its global entropic effects, and its integration into natural and social environments. The text articulates three complementary approaches to ecotechnology: as a regulatory study of technical scales, in the work of Vincent Bontems; as a cultural project aimed at transforming ways of life, in the work of Ludovic Duhem; and as a systematic philosophical theory, integrated into an “human ecology” that includes the question of law and the rights of nonhumans, in the work of JeanHugues Barthélémy. This perspective extends the Simondonian legacy by emphasizing the need for a renewed Enlightenment capable of integrating technology, culture, and nature without falling back into the myth of linear progress. Finally, the article critically examines historical proposals for alternative technologies, highlighting both their potential and their limits in light of contemporary energy, social, and political demands. The conclusion argues that our society is not “excessively technical,” but rather poorly oriented both technically and ecologically.