 Activity 1: Survey Says…

1. Reflect on what you think technology is. Think about its essence and
what you consider technology and what you consider is not technology.
Also reflect on what you think is the effect of technology to society. List
all of your reflections.
2. In groups of five or six, conduct a survey to 50 people and determine
their view or opinion on what technology is and its effects. The group
will create their own questions in the manner that you deem appropriate
to determine what people think on the essence of technology.
3. Compare your own perceptions to the survey results. Do you have the
same notion on the essence of technology? If not, what are the key
differences? Why do you think these differences exist?
 Activity 2: Getting to Know
Martin Heidegger
1. In understanding the philosophy of Martin Heidegger,
it is imperative that one should know his life and the
historical context of his philosophy. In groups of five
or six, create a video/kit/presentation/paper that you
think will best introduce Martin Heidegger.
2. Present your creation to class.
Technology as a Way of Revealing

 Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) is widely

acknowledge as one of the most important
philosophers of the 20th century.
 He was a German philosopher who was part of the
Continental tradition of philosophy.
 His stern opposition to positivism and technological
world domination received unequivocal support
from leading postmodernists and post-structuralists
of the time, including Jacques Derrida, Michael
Foucault, and Jean-n Francois Lyotard.
 The progress of science and technology is similar
to the progress of human civilization.
 As man flourishes, so does science and
technology.
 In the pursuit of a good life, man may acquire,
consume, or destroy, unknowingly or not, things
that he or she should not. This is true in the
flourishing of science and technology.
 According to Martin Heidegger, we must
undertake reflection and meditative thinking
(allowing nature to reveal itself to us without
forcing it) to determine what is truly important.
 In order to appreciate the benefits that humans
get from science and technology, we must
examine not only their utility or use (such as
providing us with goods, convenience, or
knowledge) but their greater impact on humanity
as a whole.
 Martin Heidegger, in his work The Question of Technology, tells us
that technology is commonly understood as both a means
(manufacturing and utilizing equipment, tools, and machines, the
things themselves, and the needs and ends these things serve) and a
human activity (positing ends and procuring and utilizing the means
to them), an instrumental and anthropological definition of technology.

 He said that this may not be necessarily true but is correct (being
“correct” may lead to the “truth”). He said that technology is a mode
of revealing, for it is a way to reveal truth that is more meaningful
than the superficial or practical use of technology.

 To know more about the life and philosophy of Heidegger, watch a

five-minute You Tube video entitled, The Philosophy of Martin
Heidegger which can be accessed on this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br1sGrA7XTU.
The Essence of Technology
 Sconce and technology are responsible for the ways society is
continuously being modernized.

 Science and technology continuously seep into the way the people go
about their daily lives.

 The widespread of science and technology must not block the basic
principle of ethics and morality.

 It should allow the human person to flourish alongside scientific

progress and technological development.
 From the treatise of Martin Heidegger, The Question Concerning
Technology (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 a means to an end.

 Technology is viewed as a tool available to individuals, groups, and
communities that desire to make an impact on society.
 The use of technology 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 widespread, knowing its functions requires paying
attentions to how human use it as a means to an end.
 Technology is an instrument aimed at getting things done.

2. Anthropological definition: Technology is a human activity.

 To achieve an end and to produce and use a means to an end is, by itself, is
a human activity.
 The production or invention of technological equipment, tools and machines,
and the purpose and functions they serve are what define technology.
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.
 He envisioned technology as a way of revealing -
a mode of “bringing forth”.
 Bringing forth can be understood through the
Ancient Greek philosophical concept, poiesis.
> It refers to the act of bringing something out of
concealment.
> By bringing out of concealment, the truth of
that something is revealed.
 The truth is understood through another Ancient
Greek concept of aletheia.
> It is translated as unclosedness,
unconcealedness, disclosure, or truth.
 Heidegger’s technology is a way of revealing
(poiesis) that discloses (aletheia) the truth.
 Techne is the Greek word for technology, but
according to Heidegger, the revealing of truth into
the splendor of radiant appearance was also
called techne; the poiesis of fine arts.
 Techne resembles the term episteme that refers
to the human ability to make and perform.
Technology as Poiesis: Does Modern Technology
Bring Forth or Challenge Forth?
 According to Heidegger, in The Question
Concerning Technology, postulated that both
primitive crafts and modern technology are revealing.
 He explained that modern technology is revealing not
in the sense of bringing forth or poeisis
 He made a clear distinction between technology and
modern technology.
 Modern technology challenges nature, by extracting
something from it and transforming, storing, and
distributing it.
 From the Heidegger’s’ question, it is clear that the essence of modern
technology is not to bring forth in the sense of poeisis. Instead, he
considers modern technology’s way of revealing as a way of
challenging forth.

 Challenging forth because it makes 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 of by those who enframe them-humans. This is very
evident in the way the 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.
 Challenging froth 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 flavorings, and the 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 poeisis.
 It is through enframing that modern technology reveals.
 Humankind’s desire to control everything, including
nature, is captured in this process.
 Enframing, according Heidegger is similar to two ways
of looking at the world: calculative thinking and
meditative thinking,
 Calculative thinking, humans 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 or violence.
 Calculative thinking tends to be more commonly utilized,
primarily because humans’ desire to control due to their
fear of irregularity.
 Modern technology challenges humans to enframe
nature.
 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.
 This destining of humans to reveal nature carries with it
the danger of misconstruction or misinterpretation.
The Dangers of Technology

 The dangers of technology lies 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, Paulo Coelho, once remarked that it is boastful
for humans to think that nature needs to be saved.
 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 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.
 Humans are in danger of becoming merely part of the standing
reserve or, alternatively, may find themselves in nature.
 In recognizing the dangers of technology, it 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 real threat of technology comes from its essence, not its
activities or products.
 The correct response to the danger of technology is not simply
dismissing technology altogether.
 Heidegger (1977) explained that people are delivered over to
technology in the worst possible way when they regard it as
something neutral.
Art as the Saving Power
 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.
 Heidegger proposed art as the saving power and
the way of enframing : “And art was simply called
techne.
 Heidegger saw art as an act of the 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, it inspires meditative thinking where nature
is seen as an art and that, in all of art, nature is
most poetic.
  
Questioning as the Piety of Thought
 According to Heidegger, “Questioning is the piety of thought.”
 Piety, according to Heidegger, means obedience and submission.
  
 “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”.
  
 He said that through questioning, we gain understanding of what
we are in the greater scheme of things and what modern
technology has brought us.
 Through us questioning, we build the way of knowing the truth of
who we are in the world.
 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.