Asraf K.
Lidasan
Kier Dela Cruz
Faculty
Eco/Con Lab, Biology Department
At A
Glance:
Who is
Martin
Heidegger?
Martin Heidegger
(1889-1976)
• He is one of the most important
philosophers of 20th century, and
most controversial because of his
work.
• His stern opposition to positivism and
technological world domination
received unequivocal support.
• In 1933, Heidegger joined Adolf
Hitler’s National Socialist German
Worker’s Party (NSDAP) also know
as Nazi Party.
• His philosophical work has since
often eclipsed by his political
affiliation.
• Heidegger’s philosophy focused on
ontology, in German, Das Sein.
• His philosophy described as
complicated.
Seinsvergessenheit
(Forgetfulness of Being)
Bodenstandigkeit
(Rootenedness-in-Soil)
Wesensverfassung
(Essential Constitution)
THE ESSENCE
OF
TECHNOLOGY
THE ESSENCE OF TECHNOLOGY
• S&T are responsible for the
ways society is continuously
being modernized.
• The omnipresence of S&T
must not eclipse the basic
tenets of ethics and morality.
• It should allow human person
to flourish alongside scientific
progress and technological
development.
Heidegger explains the two widely
embraced definitions of technology:
Instrumental and Anthropological
• Instrumental definition.
The Essence of – Technology is a means to an
Technology end.
• Anthropological definition
– Technology is a human activity
Technology as a Way of Revealing
Heidegger envisioned technology as
a way of revealing – a mode of
“bringing forth”.
• The true can only be pursued through
the correct.
• Correct leads to what is true.
Ancient Greek philosophical concept
poiesis – act of bringing something
out of concealment.
Ancient Greek concept of aletheia –
unclosedness, unconcealedness,
disclosure, or truth.
Bringing Forth
• The bringing forth – poeisis – which underlies causality is
a bringing out of concealment.
• This revealing is what the Greeks call truth – aletheia.
• Technology brings forth as well, and it is a revealing.
• This is seen in the way the Greeks understood techne,
which encompasses not only craft, but other acts of the
mind, and poetry.
• Techne resembles the term “episteme” refers to human
ability to make and perform.
Technology as Poiesis:
Does Modern
Technology Bring Forth
or Challenge Forth
• Heidegger distinguishes between
primitive crafts and modern
technology as both revealing.
• Modern technology is revealing
not in the sense of bringing forth
or poiesis.
• Modern technology challenges
nature rather than bringing forth
(poiesis)
• It prompts humans to dominate
and exploit natural
resources(Enframing)
• This dominance reduces nature
to standing reserve, to be used
as humans see fit
Technology as Poiesis: Does Modern
Technology Bring Forth or Challenge Forth?
• Examples include depletion of petroleum, the
introduction of harmful substances in consumer
products, and compromising food safety in agriculture
• The Information Age exacerbates this by commodifying
information and raising concerns about privacy and
human rights
• Heidegger's critique urges a reconsideration of our
relationship with technology and its impact on the
environment and society
The
Standing-Reserve
• Modern technology takes all
of nature to stand in reserve
for its exploitation.
• Man is challenged to do this,
and as such he becomes
part of the standing reserve.
• Man becomes the
instrument of technology, to
be exploited in the ordering
of nature.
Enframing as Modern
Technology’s Way of
Revealing
Enframing as Modern Technology’s
Way of Revealing
• He distinguished the way of revealing
of modern technology by considering
it as a process of enframing.
• Humankind’s desire to control
everything.
• Enframing is akin to two ways of
looking at the world.
• Calculative thinking – human desire to
put an order to nature to better
understand and control it.
• Meditative thinking – humans allow
nature to reveal itself to them without the
use of force and violence.
Enframing as modern
technology’s Way of Revealing
• Meditative thinking allows nature to reveal itself without
force or violence
• Both approaches have their benefits, but calculative
thinking is more common due to humans' desire for
control
• Enframing serves human desire for security, even at
the expense of exploiting nature
Enframing as Modern Technology’s
Way of Revealing
Enframing, then, is a way of
ordering (or framing) nature to
better manipulating it.
It happens because of how people
or human desire security.
Modern technology challenges
humans to enframe nature.
The role human take as
instruments of technology through
enframing is called destining.
Humans are challenged forth by
enframing to reveal what is real.
The Danger of Technology
“it is boastful for humans to
think that nature needs to be
saved, whereas Mother Nature
would remain even if humans
cease to exist”
Paulo Coelho
Brazilian Novelist
The Danger of Technology
• People must not allow
themselves to be consumed by
technology lest they lost the
essence of who they are as
human.
• Recognizing the danger of
technology requires critical and
reflective thinking on its use.
• The real threat of technology
comes from its essence, not its
activity or product.
“people are delivered over to
technology in the worst
possible way when they regard
is as something neutral”
“humans today particularly like
to pay homage, makes them
utterly blind to the essence of
technology”
– Martin Heidegger (1977)
The human
person being
swallowed by
technology
Art as
the
Saving
Power
Art as the Saving Power
“but where danger is, grows
the saving power also”
- Friedrich
Hölderlin
Art as The Saving Power
• Heidegger proposes art as the saving power to address the dangers of
technology
• Art is seen as a techne, a revealing force that protects and holds power
over truth
• By focusing on art, humans can escape the enframing of technology
• Art encourages meditative thinking, seeing nature as poetic rather than
just a calculative system
• Heidegger highlights the intertwined nature of art and nature, suggesting
that nature is most poetic when viewed through the lens of art
Art as the Saving Power
“And art was simply called techne. It
was a single, manifold revealing”
Martin Heidegger
Questioning as the
Piety Thought
Questioning as the Piety of thought
Heidegger concluded his treatise on technology by
saying: The closer we come to the danger, the more
brightly do the ways into the saving power begin to
shine and the more questioning we become. For
questioning is the piety of thought (1977, p. 19).
Questioning as the Piety of thought
• Heidegger emphasizes the importance of questioning
amidst the presence of technology
• Pausing, thinking, and questioning enable humans to
gain unparalleled wisdom
• Being consumed by technology occurs when humans
are caught up in enframing and neglect to question
their surroundings
Questioning as the Piety of thought
• Questioning allows humans to reassess their position
both within technology and in the broader context of
existence
• Through questioning, humans bear witness to the
crises that arise from complete preoccupation with
technology
• Questioning is regarded as the piety of thought,
essential for understanding the essence of technology
and its impact on humanity