Gilbert Simondon — On the Mode of Existence of Technical Objects (1958)
Simondon argues against two dominant reductions of technical objects: the instrumentalist view (tools are mere extensions of human will) and the alienation view (machines are forces opposed to human flourishing). In their place, he develops a philosophy of technical individuation — technical objects have their own mode of becoming, irreducible to their function or their commodity form.
The central process is concretization: technical objects evolve from abstract to concrete forms. An abstract technical object is an assemblage of components each performing a single function, loosely integrated, with each subsystem somewhat external to the others. A concrete technical object is one in which components perform multiple functions simultaneously — where form, material, and function converge into internal coherence. The engine cylinder that simultaneously contains combustion, dissipates heat through its own fins, and shapes airflow is more concrete than one where each function belongs to a separate subsystem. Concretization is not simplification but increasing integration.
Sufficiently individuated technical objects generate an associated milieu — a geographical and technical environment the object creates for itself, which sustains it and which it in turn sustains. The milieu is neither purely natural nor purely artificial; it is produced through the object’s operation and becomes constitutive of the object’s existence. Simondon identifies three scales of technical reality: elements (tools), technical individuals (machines), and ensembles (factories, networks, infrastructures) — each with its own mode of individuation and associated milieu.
The book’s political argument is that modern culture’s alienation from technical objects — treating them as black boxes, defined only by their use — disables genuine participation in technical life and enables enclosure. Those who understand how objects individuate hold power over those who only use them. Simondon calls for a technical culture adequate to the actual mode of existence of technical objects: not mere instrumentality but knowledge of the genesis, the internal tensions, and the associated milieu of the technical beings we inhabit.
Key concepts:
- Concretization: the evolutionary process by which technical objects move from abstract (single-function components, loose integration) to concrete (multi-function components, internal coherence, self-sustaining form)
- Associated milieu: the environment a technical object produces through its operation, which sustains the object while being shaped by it — neither purely natural nor purely human
- Technical individuation: genuine ontogenetic development in technical objects, analogous to (and continuous with) biological and psychic individuation
- Elements / individuals / ensembles: three scales of technical reality with distinct modes of individuation and temporal rhythms
- Technical culture: Simondon’s normative horizon — a culture that engages technical objects as genuinely individuating entities rather than as black boxes or threats
For OM: Simondon’s associated milieu is a direct philosophical precursor to the concept of substrate — the community and environment that sustains a protocol while being shaped by it in return. Concretization maps onto open protocol evolution: protocols develop from abstract (modular, single-function rules) toward concrete (integrated, self-sustaining, generating their own associated communities). His argument that genuine culture requires technical understanding — not just technical use — grounds OM’s claim that high-agency participation requires inhabiting protocols as a participant in their individuation, not merely a consumer of their outputs. The ensemble scale corresponds directly to Ethereum as infrastructure: a technical ensemble whose associated milieu includes developers, users, governance communities, and the broader web3 ecosystem.