Carl Mitcham was educated at the University of Colorado (BA, MA) and Fordham University (PhD). Currently Professor of Liberal Arts and International Studies and the Colorado School of Mines, he has taught previously at Berea College (Kentucky), St. Catherine College (Kentucky), Brooklyn Polytechnic University, and Pennsylvania State University.
Throughout his career, Mitcham has reflected on the nature and meaning of living in a high-science, high-tech society, in both particular and general terms. Although critical assessment of particular technoscientific practices and achievements is crucial, and where reflection must begin, particular assessments do not, to his mind, exhaust the challenge of technoscience.
Mitcham's publications include Philosophy and Technology (1972, 1983); Theology and Technology (1984); Philosophy and Technology II (1986); Ethical Issues Associated with Scientific and Technological Research for the Military (1989); Philosophy of Technology in Spanish Speaking Countries (1993); Thinking Through Technology (1994); Engineer's Toolkit: Engineering Ethics (2000); Visions of STS: Counterpoints in Science, Technology, and Society Studies (2001); and The Challenges of Ivan Illich: A Collective Reflection (2002).