An Analysis of Heidegger The Question Concerning Technology - Essay Example

Essay: An Analysis of Heidegger The Question Concerning Technology One of the most influential and controversial figures of twentieth-century Western philosophy Martin Heidegger has made a significant contribution to the continental philosophy through his "The Question Concerning Technology," collection of talks he delivered from 1949 to 1953. Heidegger aims at preparing the readers for a free and open relation with technology via an investigation of technology in his essay. “One of Heideggers later works, The Question Concerning Technology (1977), deals with the issue of dehumanization in modern society, what Heidegger called the "darkening of the world." (Martin Heidegger, 1889-1976, regent). The essay, though apparently seems a difficult text for reading, has been established on firm and definite norms and objectives. “The first paragraph establishes the essays objective: to investigate technology in order to prepare us for a "free relationship" to it. One of the fundamental questions of the essay has to do with how "we”… currently relate to technology, how we think about it, what we imagine it to be.” (Heidegger: The Question Concerning Technology, hawaii). Thus, in an ultimate evaluation of the essay one finds the worthiness and value of it. An exceptionally remarkable aspect of the essay "The Question Concerning Technology” is that it, more than any scholarly article on the complex questions around culture and technology, has influenced several other writers and thinkers as well as it is formed on the basis of the existing paradigms and scholarly works on the similar topics. Conspicuously, the interest of the author in "The Question Concerning Technology” falls not on technology or the various forms of it but on an orientation of the readers towards technology. The essay seems to be very relevant and valid to the modern age of technological age as it has been a relevant interpretation of the modern man in relation to the technological advanced universe. Thus, the essay also amounts large scale influence and significance among the modern writers and it has been structured rooting its arguments and thoughts on the terminology of German, Greek, and Latin. For example, we may consider “episteme,” the first word that is significant to the idea of information that Heidegger explains to the reader. It can be defined, in simple translation, as "knowledge." In an analysis of the influences that informed this significant essay, it is important to note that the interest of the writer was to orient the readers to technology and act as a tool or mediator between the modern man and technology. However, basing on the ancient literature and terminology, Heidegger establishes his arguments. Thus, after establishing that “the essence of technology is by no means anything technological,” Heidegger points out, “According to ancient doctrine, the essence of a thing is considered to be what the thing is. We ask the question concerning technology when we ask what it is. Everyone knows the two statements that answer our question. One says: Technology is a means to an end. The other says: Technology is a human activity.” (Heidegger, 4). In this way, Heidegger makes use of the existing paradigms to establish his points. It is significant that throughout the work we can find evidences of the author’s use of terms in German, Greek, and Latin. There are several other examples of the ancient influences on the essay. For example, “the discourse which Heidegger has fashioned around the notions of ‘occasioning’ and ‘bringing–forth’ owes a certain debt of influence to one of his most famous philosophical discussions, namely, that concerning the Greek conception of truth/aletheia…” (O’Brien, p 12). It is important for us to comprehend the influence of the essay on the other literatures. It is important to note that it has been instrumental in the framework of several modern writings. “Throughout “The Question Concerning Technology,” Heidegger provides examples that expose the Janus-faced character of modern technology, contrasting the meaning of sophisticated modern technological devices with that of older, more primitive ones not completely under the epochal sway of modern technology. He illustrates how modern technology sets itself apart from more primitive technological devices.” ((En)Framing Heidegger’s Philosophy of Technology). In this way Heidegger provides the most relevant modern analysis of technology and therefore becomes a significant source for other writers to add on to the topic. The theoretical expositions on technology by Heidegger have also a significant role in the development of modern concepts of science in relation to technology. As against the general perception of science as a dominant epistemological framework of modernity, with technology as the application of science, Heidegger questions this priority in terms of the concept of being. “Rather than understanding science as the foundation from which a conception of being is transformed, Heidegger strives to see the emergence of science as a result of a certain way that being comes into presence. As such, technology is grasped as a way of being, rather than a practical application of scientific achievements.” (Schreiber). Therefore, Heidegger’s essay remains a remarkable influence on the modern concept of technology and science. However, an even greater contribution or influence of the essay by Heidegger is the very novel outlook of technology which influenced the new perception of the technology. The essay turned out to be a significant opening to the new way of understanding technology and the advancements in the area. “In his lecture of 1953, The Question Concerning Technology, Heidegger addressed what has become a central concern in the twentieth century: What is humankinds relationship to technology? Heideggers approach was to attempt to reveal the essence of technology… Indeed, Heidegger maintained that the essence of technology is bound up with revealing the totality of being; in the "laying bare" of phenomena.” (Walton). The influence of the essay on the modern understanding of technology is, therefore, very much evident and these types of influences on the later literature makes the essay highly significant. There are several considerations that come to our mind in an understanding of the influences behind the essay. Thus, we notice that “Martin Heidegger’s philosophy of technology stems directly from his ontology. Specifically that his notion of technology, as the enframing destining spirit of this age, is a revelation of being itself as technology in this age… The influence of Kant motivated Heidegger to view the world as a projection of human thought and ideas through metaphysics. Heidegger is also reacting against Nietzsche, and Heidegger is attempting to combat the nihilism of this age. Ihde sees Heidegger as motivated by the philosophy of science that he absorbed from Husserl and the logical positivists of the early twentieth century. Heidegger’s philosophy of technology seems to be years ahead of its time, as it shows technology’s precedence over science in techno-science.” (Taylor, pp iii and 72). Thus, we can accurately find several sources which claim the influence on Heidegger in the composition of the essay. There are also evidences for the impact of the essay by Heidegger on the other writers. One of the remarkable aspects of the influences of the essay is that “it would hardly accurate to imply that there has been a wave of Heidegger influence in computer science…” and “we can anticipate three styles in which Heidegger’s philosophy will have an impact on the design of computer systems. First, it has been influential in offering a critique of current approaches and in grounding an assessment of the limitations of the systems that are being proposed and built… The second direction is in suggesting methods for design that are more hermeneutic in their nature and more oriented to producing readiness-to-hand… The third and ultimately most significant direction lies in… moving beyond the design of equipment to the design of being through our activities of bringing forth.” (Winograd 124-125). In conclusion, it is evident that the essay “The Question Concerning Technology” has been influenced by several existing notions which the writer uses as the base for the work. On the other hand, the essay also influenced several modern writers who were concerned with these ideas. Works Cited Heidegger: The Question Concerning Technology. Pp.287-289. 28 Mar. 2008. Heidegger, Martin. (1977). The question concerning technology in The question concerning technology and other essays (Paperback ed.). New York: Harper & Row, pp 3–35. O’Brien, Mahon. Commentary on Heidegger’s “The Question Concerning Technology.” IWM Junior Visiting Fellows’ Conferences.2004. 28 Mar. 2008. ., p12. (En)Framing Heidegger’s Philosophy of Technology. Essays in Philosophy, A Biannual Journal. Vol.6. No.1. Jan. 2005. 28 Mar. 2008. . Taylor, James Michael. The Question Concerning Heidegger: Technology and being, a Deeper Understanding. Texas A& M University. Aug. 2006. 28 Mar. 2008. . Winograd, Terry. p 124-125, Heidegger and the design of computer systems in Feenberg, Andrew and Hannay, Alastair. Technology and the politics of knowledge, Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, pp 108–127, 1995. Walton, Richard. Heidegger in the Hands-on Science and Technology Center: Philosophical Reflections on Learning in Informal Settings. Journal of Technology Education. Vol. 2. No. 1. 2000. 16 Apr. 2008. . Schreiber, Matthew. The Question Concerning Heidegger’s Critique of Subjectivity: Reflections on the Essence of Science, Technology, and the Modern Age. 2001-2002. 16 Apr. 2008. . Read More