The Origins of an Analytical Approach to the Problems of Technology: Aristotle on Episteme and Techne

The article is devoted to an attempt to demonstrate that the epistemological orientation of the analytical philosophy of technology is determined not only by the internal logic of analytic philosophy and the specifics of its tools, but also by the nature of the subject. In other words, the epistemological element was laid down in the ancient Greek concept 'techne' (^ xe%vn - art, handicraft, craft, ability), which made it possible to form an appropriate approach to technology and engineering within analytic philosophy. First, the author briefly considers Plato's dialogue "Ion", in which techne and episteme are explicitly linked and contrasted with divine inspiration. Further, the author shows that, in general, Aristotle, in contrast to Plato, was inclined to draw a clear line between techne and episteme. According to Aristotle, episteme and techne differ in the scope (the former deals with constant being, the latter with changeable one), the degree of accuracy (the former is more accurate than the latter), the goal (the goal of the formmer is truth, the goal of the latter is usefulness), and the degree of universality (episteme is more universal than techne). However, despite the fact that knowledge refers to the theoretical mind, and art to the poetic (or practical) mind, there are points at which they cross. This is well illustrated by the example of the medical craft. According to Aristotle, "health is the definition (o Xoyo^) and cognition (^ ёяютгрп) in the physician's soul." Therefore, the healing process consists of two stages: at the first stage, the doctor reflects on the causes of the disease and methods of treatment; at the second, he concludes on what "he is able to do" (arnoi; 8i3vaxai noieiv). This transition from reflecting to acting is the boundary between the epistemic and practical levels, since at the level of episteme, as mentioned earlier, one is dealing with constant being, and at the level of techne with changeable one. Thus, in art, one can distinguish two levels, which can be referred to as "epistemolo-gical" and "practical". At the same time, one should speak about the epistemological component only to a certain extent because a sufficient degree of accuracy and necessity of episteme is not achieved in this case.

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