Until recently, philosophers have either denied that there is such a thing as philosophy of technology or have held it in contempt. A philosophy of technology would be as absurd as a philosophy of sport, they scoffed. Nowadays philosophers pay more attention to this crucial area We recognize that technology raises economic, moral, and social problems that demand philosophical attentioa But we still tend to overlook that applied science has conceptual problems – problems for the philosopher of science – independent of the moral, social, and aesthetic problems of technology. It is the need for philosophical study of these conceptual problems that I want to stress.

To make clear that these problems are scientific problems separate from the familiar problems of decision theory, costbenefit analysis, and social responsibility, I shall choose two examples at a fairly high level in the application of physics – one quantum, one classical.