Critique, technology, and innovation

An interview with Darryl Cressman

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5380/nocsi.i7.102438

Keywords:

philosophy of technology, critique, innovation, Andrew Feenberg, Herbert Marcuse

Abstract

Philosopher of technology, Darryl Cressman, is an assistant professor at Maastricht University. Cressman’s work engages with a wide variety of disciplines and approaches, including Science and Technology Studies (STS), media theory, the history and philosophy of science, innovation studies, and critical theory. He is the editor of The Necessity of Critique: Andrew Feenberg & the Philosophy of Technology (2022), a collection which brings together diverse perspectives from various authors to focus on Feenberg’s critique of technology. In this interview, Cressman provides insights into his philosophical roots, approach, and methodology.

Author Biographies

Lisann Penttilä, Institute of Philosophy

Doctoral researcher at the Institute of Philosophy, KU Leuven (Belgium). Her research focuses on responsibility and critique in technological development and innovation processes. Her work engages with disciplines and approaches including critical and social theory, action theory, and philosophy of technology.

Darryl Cressman, Maastricht University

PhD in 2012 from the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University. Philosopher of technology working in the tradition of the humanities. My research and teaching draws on a variety of disciplines and approaches, including Science and Technology Studies (STS), media theory, the history of technology, critical theory, phenomenology, sound studies, political philosophy, and aesthetic philosophy. In my research and teaching, I have applied these approaches to technologies ranging from pipe organs and concert halls to artificial intelligence, online education, and disruptive innovation.

References

Bijker, W., Hughes, T., Pinch, T.J.. (1987) The Social Construction of Technological Systems: New Directions in the Sociology and History of Technology. Edited by Wiebe E. Bijker, Thomas P. Hughes, and Trevor J. Pinch. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Cressman, D. (2020) “Contingency & Potential: Reconsidering a Dialectical Philosophy of Technology” in Techné: Research in Philosophy & Technology. Vol.24, pp.138-158.

Cressman, D. (2019) “Disruptive Innovation and the Idea of Technology” in Novation- Critical Studies of Innovation. Vol. 1. pp. 18-40.

Cressman, D., ed. (2022). The Necessity of Critique: Andrew Feenberg and the Philosophy of Technology. Springer Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07877-4

Feenberg, A. (2017) Technosystem: The Social Life of Reason. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Marcuse, H. (1969) An Essay on Liberation. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

Marcuse, H. (1968 [1964]) One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

Additional Files

Published

2025-12-17

How to Cite

Penttilä, L., & Cressman, D. (2025). Critique, technology, and innovation: An interview with Darryl Cressman. NOvation — Critical Studies of Innovation, (7), 24. https://doi.org/10.5380/nocsi.i7.102438

Issue

No. 7 (2025): Critical approaches to innovation and alternative policy models for innovation

Section

Reviews

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Lisann Penttilä, Darryl Cressman

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