Abstract:

Marcel Mauss， a famous French sociologist and anthropologist， launched the sociological studies of technique in the name of “technology” in the first half of the 20th century. He regarded technology as an important branch of sociology， which transcends the “tool view” of technology in the common sense. He re-explained the technological phenomena from the “activity view” of technology by Plato， proposed such notions as “technique” and “body technique”， and analyzed three social relationships of technique， including “technique and body”， “technique and science” and “technique and magic”. In his opinion， technique is a social representation， and it is technique that will save human beings from spiritual and material crises.

Key words: Marcel Mauss, sociology of technology, technology