Beyond Utility: Rethinking Innovation through the Lens of Philosophy of Technology

Abstract

This paper challenges the dominant utilitarian paradigm of innovation, which reduces technology development to measures of patentability, profitability, and efficiency. Drawing on influential figures in the field of technology philosophy, including Heidegger, Ellul, Feenberg, Ihde, and Stiegler, it makes the case that innovation needs to be reinterpreted as an ethical and ontological endeavour rather than just a technical or financial one. By closely examining seminal patent decisions like Chakrabarty, Myriad, and Mayo, the paper demonstrates how legal regimes actively define the metaphysical parameters of what constitutes invention, frequently omitting moral, cultural, and ecological factors. In the name of legal uniformity, it further criticises the TRIPS Agreement as a global epistemic framework that marginalises non-Western knowledge systems. The paper proposes a normative model for innovative governance, grounded in ontological pluralism, ethical reflexivity, and democratic accountability, to transcend instrumentalism. Participatory evaluation approaches, ethical committees, and curriculum change in scientific and engineering education are examples of practical recommendations. In an era of global crises, this interdisciplinary intervention advocates for a fundamental change in the way society, policy, and law understand and govern innovation.