Philosophy of Artifacts

2025-06-24T19:53:44+02:00

Since its origins, the concept of “artifact” has been associated with functionalist considerations. In other words, its definition and characterization have been closely associated with their function within a given context. This approach, derived from the Aristotelian notion of techne, was challenged during the 20th century with the rise of analytic philosophy. Many authors highlighted the need to attend to the social and ethical dimensions of artifactuality, as well as the agency that artifacts themselves have in shaping meaningful scientific and technological practices.

The broad contours of the concept of artifact have conferred it a significant role in various philosophical disciplines. The ontological status of artifactuality has been debated -- for example, whether artifacts have an independent existence or are mere human constructs. We also find important discussions in epistemology and philosophy of science, such as the role of artifactuality in the production of scientific knowledge or the access that agents have to different epistemic artifacts (e.g., instruments, databases, models, among others). Likewise, the philosophy of technology has granted a fundamental role to this concept: technology has been defined in relation to the notion of artifact, and the axiological, ethical, and political implications of technological artifacts have been emphasized. Currently, the development of certain technologies, such as AI systems, and the emergence of new philosophical movements, such as social epistemology, are raising intriguing disciplinary intersections and novel perspectives on the phenomenon of artifactuality.

Artefactos. Philosophical Studies on Science and Technology invites submissions for a special issue on “Philosophy of Artifacts”. Possible topics for manuscripts include (but are not limited to):

Ontology of artifacts
Epistemology of artifacts
Axiology, ethics, and politics of artifacts
Aesthetics and artifactuality
Artifacts and traditional definitions of technology
Artifactuality and living systems
Artifactuality and AI
Artifactuality and social epistemologies

The deadline for submitting contributions is February 1^st, 2026. The maximum word length is 10,000 words per manuscript, including references.

Please consult the website (https://revistas.usal.es//index.php/artefactos/index) for the Author Guidelines.

For further information, please do not hesitate to contact the journal editors: https://revistas.usal.es/cinco/index.php/artefactos/about/editorialTeam

Submissions must be made through the journal's OJS platform: https://revistas.usal.es/index.php/artefactos/about/submissions#authorGuidelines

Artefactos is an open-access, diamond digital journal with ongoing publication. It is managed by the University Institute for Science and Technology Studies (ECYT) at the University of Salamanca (Spain) and published by Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca. Its primary aim is to provide a rigorous and critical platform for the philosophical analysis of both established and, most importantly, emerging issues in Science and Technology Studies.

Artefactos. Philosophical Studies on Science and Technology: Announcements

Philosophy of Artifacts