Book excerpt: Technology is a crucial feature of the modern world, and human beings are necessarily technological creatures. Our goal must be to use technology effectively, efficiently, and ethically. We have hands that are adept at using tools, and intelligence that guides our actions. We also have desires and emotions that motivate us to achieve more and more, never allowing us to stop.From the viewpoint of praxiology, technology does not exist merely to satisfy the human need in an effective and efficient way. The problems of the modern world and the questions we must ask with respect to technology and how it is used are complicated and demanding. They may initially seem mysterious, perhaps even partly subconscious. In this fifteenth volume of a distinguished international series, contributors address essential questions about the philosophy and ethics of technology. Their intention is to point out the road not only to its better applications but also to its greater understanding.The first part of the book addresses general questions about the theory of technology. The second part of the volume focuses on special topics like information and communication technologies and work systems, as well as the foundations of problem solving and the history of innovation in the age of enlightenment. The third part of the book is on ethical judgments. It emphasizes the importance of ethics in the application of technology and, especially, when we commercialize it in order to meet the needs of the people in a free market society. This volume offers its reader a balanced picture of the state of the art of theoretical and applied issues in technology research--emphasizing the praxiological perspective that characterizes the entire series.