Chapter 58
Technology and Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production, a market system for the distribution and exchange of goods and services, and an allocation of resources also based on the market. Capitalism is typically justified by an appeal to the rights of individuals or groups of individuals acting as “legal persons” (or corporations) to buy, sell, trade or give (as gifts) products, labor, money in an economic system that is relatively free of government control. A capitalist economic system is dedicated to production for profit and the accumulation of value and market share by individuals or corporate business entities. Capitalism has been the dominant system in the Western world since the decline of mercantilism in the eighteenth century and the rise of the industrial revolution in the nineteenth century.
Technology has been vital to the development and success of a capitalist economy from its beginnings and continues to be so today.
Get A Companion to the Philosophy of Technology now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
