Do Artifacts Have Dual Natures? Two Points of Commentary on the Delft Project

Let me begin with praise for the research project on which I am commenting –that is, “The Dual Nature of Technical Artifacts.” This project, originated byPeter Kroes and Anthonie Meijers, and based at the Technical University Delft,constitutes an important effort to advance the philosophy of technology.As the manifest of this project points out, artifacts have at least two keyfeatures: they are at once physical objects and they embody intentionalfunctions. It is difficult even to articulate precisely this two-fold character,which appears to reflect in non-human entities the famous mind-body problem. Just as the human can be described at once in physical or bodily terms and inmental terms – as a certain anatomy and physiology