Independent Learning Module 4

GEN ED 7: Science, Technology and Society

Semester: 1st, A.Y. 2022~2023

CHAPTER 4: The Human Person Flourishing in Terms of Science and

Technology - Technology as a Way of Revealing
Overview:

This unit consists of topics that will give an essence of technology based from the work of
Martin Heidegger, The Question Concerning Technology. Key concepts related to
Heidegger’s work will be tackled and how this concept may give you an understanding of
the essence of technology.

Learning Targets:
• differentiate the essences of technology and modern technology;
• discuss and illustrate the dangers of modern technology; and
• explain why art is the saving power of modern technology.

Concept:

Martin Heidegger: A Philosopher

“The essence of technology is by no means anything

technological.”

Martin
Heidegger (1977)

Heidegger was one of the most influential

philosophers of the 20th century. Technology was an
important element in his work: for Heidegger,
technology was the key to understanding our current
time. Especially his text ‘The Question Concerning
Technology’ (1954, English Translation 1977), which
has been very influential in philosophy of technology.

Heidegger was born on September 26, 1889 in Messkirch in south-west Germany to a

Catholic family. His father worked as sexton in the local church. In his early youth, Heidegger
was being prepared for the priesthood. In 1903 he went to the high school in Konstanz, where
the church supported him with a scholarship, and then, in 1906, he moved to Freiburg. His
interest in philosophy first arose during his high school studies in Freiburg when, at the age of
seventeen, he read Franz Brentano’s book entitled On the Manifold Meaning of Being
according to Aristotle. By his own account, it was this work that inspired his life-long quest
for the meaning of being. In 1909, after completing the high school, he became a Jesuit novice,
but was discharged within a month for reasons of health. He then entered Freiburg University,

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where he studied theology. However, because of health problems and perhaps because of a lack
of a strong spiritual vocation, Heidegger left the seminary in 1911 and broke off his training
for the priesthood. He took up studies in philosophy, mathematics, and natural sciences. It was
also at that time that he first became influenced by Edmund Husserl. He studied
Husserl’s Logical Investigations. In 1913 he completed a doctorate in philosophy with a
dissertation on The Doctrine of Judgement in Psychologism under the direction of the neo-
Kantian philosopher Heinrich Rickert. (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

Heidegger’s work on philosophy focused on ontology or the study of “being” or dassein

in German. His philosophical works are often described as complicated, partly due to his use
of complex compound. Some of the German words are: Seinsvergessenheit (Forgiveness of
Being), Bodenstandigkeit (Rootedness in the soil), and Wesensverfassung (Essential
Consitution). (Quinto & Nieva, 2019)

To know more about the life and philosophy of Heidegger, watch a youtube video “The
Philosophy of Martin Hidegger on the link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br1sGrA7XTU This is a 5 minutes video which will
help you understand basic concepts about Hidegger’s philosophy.

The Essence of Technology

It cannot be denied that science and technology are responsible for the ways society is
continuously being modernized. Science and technology continuously seep into the ways
people go about their daily lives. However, the omnipresence of science and technology must
not eclipse the basic tenets of ethics and morality. Instead, it should allow the human person
to flourish alongside scientific progress and technological development. In order to spark the
discussion on the role of ethics and social morality in science and technology, it is necessary
to go back to the very essence of technology, i.e., its definition.

The essence of technology can be captured in its definition. In his treatise, The Question
Concerning Technology, Martin Heidegger (1977) explains the two widely embraced
definitions of technology (1) instrumental and (2) anthropological.

1. Instrumental definition: Technology is a means to an end.

Technology is not an end in itself, it is a means to an end. In this context,

technology is viewed as a tool available to individuals, groups, and communities that
desire to make an impact to society. How technology is used varies from individual
to individual, groups to groups, and communities to communities according to their
individual and collective functions, goals, and aspirations. While technology is
omnipresent, knowing its functions requires paying attention to how humans use it
as a means to an end. In this sense, technology is an instrument aimed at getting
things done.

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2. Anthropological definition: Technology is a human activity.

Technology can also be defined as a human activity, because to achieve an end

and to produce and use a means to an end is, by itself a human activity. The
production or invention of technological equipment, tools and machines, the
products and inventions, and the purpose and functions they serve are what define
technology.

Both definitions, i.e., instrumental and anthropological, are considered correct.

Technology as a Way of Revealing

Heidegger stressed that the true can only be pursued through the correct. Simply, what
is correct leads to what is true. In this sense, Heidegger envisioned technology as a way of
revealing – a mode of bringing forth. Bringing forth can be understood through the Ancient
Greek Philosophical concept, poiesis, which refers to the act of bringing something out of
concealment. By bringing something out of concealment, the truth of that something is
revealed. The truth is understood through another Ancient Greek concept of aletheia, which is
translated as unclosedness, unconcealedness, disclosure, or truth.

Thus, for Heidegger, technology is a form of poeisis – a way of revealing that

unconceals aletheiaor the truth. This is seen in the way the term techne,the Greek root word of
technology, is understood in different contexts. In philosophy, techne resembles the term
episteme that refers to the human ability to make and perform. Techne also encompasses
knowledge and understanding. In art, it refers to tangible and intangible aspects of life. The
Greeks understood techne in the way that it encompasses not only craft, but other acts of the
mind, and poetry.

Technology as Poiesis: Does Modern Technology Bring Forth or Challenge Forth?

Heidegger, in The Question Concerning Technology, posited that both primitive crafts
and modern technology are revealing. However, he explained that modern technology is
revealing not in the sense of bringing forth or poeisis. Heidegger made a clear distinction
between technology and modern technology in that the latter challenges nature. Modern
technology challenges nature by extracting something from it and transforming, storing, and
distributing it.

On the surface, Heidegger’s criticism of modern technology might appear

counterintuitive to the purpose of nature to human existence. However, by digging deeper into
Heidegger’s question, it becomes clear that the essence of modern technology is not to bring
forth in the sense of poeisis. Instead, Heidegger considers modern technology’s way of
revealing as a way of challenging forth. Modern technology challenges forth, because it makes

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people think how to do things faster, more effectively, and with less effort. It prompts people
into dominating and enframing the earth’s natural resources. Challenging forth reduces objects
as standing reserve or something to be disposed-off by those who enframe them – humans.
This is evident in the way people exploit natural resources with very little concern for the
ecological consequences that come with it. Challenging forth as a result of modern technology
is also evident in the information age, such that greater control of information to profit from its
value gives rise to concerns about privacy and the protection of human rights.

The challenging forth of modern technology is seen everywhere: in the rise and
depletion of petroleum as a strategic resource; the introduction and use of synthetic dyes,
artificial flavoring, and toxic materials into the consumer stream that bring about adverse
effects on human health; and the use of ripening agents in agriculture that poses threats to food
safety and health security.

Enframing as Modern Technology’s Way of Revealing

If the essence of technology can be understood as a way of bringing forth the truth in
the sense of poiesis, Heidegger distinguished the way of revealing of modern technology by
considering it as a process of enframing. Humankind’s desire to control everything, including
nature, is captured in this process. By putting things in this case, nature in a frame, it becomes
much easier for humans to control it according to their desires.

Enframing, according to Heidegger is a kin or similar to two ways of looking at the

world: calculative thinking and meditative thinking. In calculative thinking, humans desire to
put an order to nature to better understand and control it. In meditative thinking, humans allow
nature to reveal itself to them without the use of force or violence. One thinking is necessarily
better than the other. In fact, humans are capable of using both and will benefit from being able
to harmonize these ways of looking at the world. Yet, calculative thinking tends to be more
commonly utilized, primarily because humans’ desire to control due to their fear of irregularity.

Enframing then, is a way of ordering (or framing) nature to better manipulate it.
Enframing happens because of how humans desire for security, even if it puts all of nature as
a standing reserve ready for exploitation. Modern technology challenges humans to enframe
nature. Thus, humans become part of the standing reserve and an instrument of technology, to
be exploited in the ordering of nature. The role humans take as instruments of technology
through enframing is called destining. In destining, humans are challenged forth by enframing
to reveal what is real. However, this destining of humans to reveal nature carries with it the
danger of misconstruction or misinterpretation.

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The Dangers of Technology

The dangers of technology lie in how humans let themselves be consumed by it.
Although humans are looped into the cycle of bringing forth or challenging forth, it is their
responsibility to recognize how they become instruments of technology.

The Brazilian novelist, Paulo Coelho, once remarked that it is boastful to humans to
think that nature needs to be saved, whereas Mother Nature would remain even if humans cease
to exist. Hence, in facing the dangers of technology, the fear of disappearing from the face of
the Earth should concern people more potently than the fear of the Earth disappearing. As mere
tenants on Earth, people must not allow themselves to be consumed by technology lest they
lose the essence of who they are as human beings. In this sense, humans are in danger of
becoming merely part of the standing reserve or, alternatively, may find themselves in nature.

Recognizing its dangers of technology requires critical and reflective thinking on its
use. For example, social media has indeed connected people in the most efficient and
convenient way imaginable, but it also inadvertently gave rise to issues such as invasion of
privacy, online disinhibition, and proliferation of fake news. The line has to be drawn between
what constitutes a beneficial use of social media and dangerous one. As exemplified, social
media comes with both benefits and drawbacks.

However, the real threat of technology comes from its essence, not its activities or
products. The correct response to the danger of technology is not simple dismissing technology
altogether. Heidegger explained that people are delivered over technology in the worst possible
way when they regard it as something neutral. This conception of technology, according to
Heidegger, to which today humans particularly like to pay homage, makes them utterly blind
to the essence of technology. Ultimately, the essence of technology is by no means anything
technologically (Heidegger, 1977)

Art as the Saving Power

Necessary reflection upon and confrontation with technology are required in order to
proactively address the dangers of technology. Friedrich Holderlin, a German poet quoted by
Heidegger, said “But where danger is, grows the saving power also”. Following this, the saving
power can be traced exactly where the danger is – in the essence of technology. As mentioned,
this essence is not neutral and by no means anything technological. Along this line, Heidegger
proposed art as the saving power and the way out of enframing: “And art was simply called
techne. It was a single, manifold revealing” (Heidegger, 1977). Heidegger saw art as an act of
mind, i.e., a techne, that protected and had great power over the truth. By focusing on art,
people are able to see more clearly how art is embedded in nature. Art encourages humans to
think less from a calculative standpoint where nature is viewed as an ordered system. Instead,

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it inspires meditative thinking where nature is seen as an art and that, in all of art, nature is
most poetic. Heidegger encapsulated this as follows:

Because the essence of technology is nothing technological, essential

reflection upon technology and decisive confrontation with it must happen

in a realm that is, on the one hand, akin to the essence of technology and,
on the other, fundamentally different from it. Such a realm is art. But
certainly, only if reflection on art, for its part, does not shut its eyes to the
constellation of truth after which we are questioning

Questioning as the Piety of Thought

Heidegger (1977) 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.

Heidegger underscored the importance of questioning in the midst of technology. For

him, there is unparalleled wisdom gained only when humans are able to pause, think, and
question what is around them. Humans are consumed by technology when they are caught up
in enframing and fail to pay attention to the intricacies of technology, the brilliance of the
purpose of humankind, and the genius of humans forth the truth.

Questioning is the piety of thought. It is only through questioning that humans are able
to reassess their position not only in the midst of technology around them but also and most
importantly, in the grand scheme of things. Heidegger posited that it is through questioning
that humans bear witness to the crises that a complete preoccupation with technology brings,
preventing them from experiencing the essence of technology.

Thus, humans need to take a step back and reassess who they were, who they are, and
who they are becoming in the midst of technology in this day and age.

Additional Readings

https://www.futurelearn.com/info/courses/philosophy-of-technology
https://iep.utm.edu/heidegge/ Internet Encyclopedia of Philisophy (IEP)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br1sGrA7XTU The Philosophy of Michael
Heidegger

GEN ED 7: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY CHAPTER 4: The Human Person Flourishing in Terms of
Science and Technology - Technology as a Way of Revealing
Independent Learning Module 4
GEN ED 7: Science, Technology and Society

REFERENCES
Heidegger, M. (1977). ThE Question Concerning Technology and Other Essays.
Garland Publishing
Quinto & Nieva (2019). Science, Technology and Society, C & E Publishing, Inc.
Quezon City

GEN ED 7: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY CHAPTER 4: The Human Person Flourishing in Terms of
Science and Technology - Technology as a Way of Revealing