Chapter 4
Martin Heidegger and its Essence in
Technology
Martin Heidegger
German Philosopher who wrote an essay “The
Question Concerning Technology” – this address
modern technology and its essence as an
instrumental way of revealing the world.
He goes beyond the traditional view of technology as
machines and technical procedures
Heidegger’s Understanding of Technology based on
its Essence
1. it is not something we make; it is a mode of being, or
of revealing. The essence of technology for
Heidegger is not the best or most characteristic
instance of technology nor is it a nebulous
generality, a form or idea. Rather, to consider
technology essentially is to see it as an event to
which we belong: thee structuring, ordering, and
“requisitioning” of everything around us, and of
ourselves
2. technology even holds sway over beings that we do
not normally think as technological, such as gods
and history
3. the essence of technology as Heidegger discusses it
is primarily a matter of modern and industrial
technology. He is less concerned with the ancient
and old tools and techniques that antedate
modernity; the essence of technology is revealed in
factories and industrial processes, not in hammers
and plows
4. technology is not simply the practical application of
science. Instead, modern natural science can
understand nature in the characteristically
scientific manner only because nature has already,
in advance, come to light as a set of calculable,
orderable forces – that is to say, technologically
Characteristics of Modern Technology as a Revealing
Process:
1. Challenging – things are revealed or brought forth
by challenging or demanding them. It is putting to
nature the unreasonable demand that it supply
energy that can be extracted and stored. Nature
reveals itself in modern technology as things of
manipulation, as things that yield energy whenever
man demands them to do so
2. Expediting – means to hasten the movement of
something. However, in its original sense,
expediting is also a process of revealing inasmuch
as it “unlocks” and “exposes” something. Things
that are revealed in an expedited manner are
brought forth as resources that must be used
efficiently
Other Terms:
Standing in Reserve – things that are revealed in
modern technology. Things are not “object”.
Objects – are things that “stand against us” as
things with autonomy. They are revealed mainly in
human thinking and do not allow further
manipulations
Landscape – as a part of nature that is somewhat
permanent and stand against us as another entity
Around – it so to say and we only see what we can
do to overcome its dominating presence; we do not
manipulate it, but rather, we act according to its
results
Enframing – is the “essence” of modern technology.
It means putting into the frame of modern
technology everything in nature. This “frame” of
modern technology is the network or interlocking
things standing in reserve. It is the world centered
on man’s caprices and demands
Human Flourishing
The best translation for the Greek word
“Eudaimonia,” which for both Plato and Aristotle,
means not only good fortune and material
prosperity but a situation achieved through virtue,
knowledge, and excellence
The affirmation that human flourishing implies
development of the individual in his intellectual,
affective, moral, and spiritual dimensions obviously
needs elaboration.
Plato in the Republic, contends that the soul, or
mind, has three motivating parts: rational, spirited,
or emotional and appetitive
Aristotle in the Nicomachean Ethics, states that
“Eudaimonia” is constituted not by honor, or wealth
power, but by rational activity in accordance with
excellence in the virtues of character including
courage, honesty, pride, friendliness, and wittiness,
the intellectual virtues notably rationality and
judgment, as well as mutually beneficial
friendships and scientific knowledge, particularly of
things that are fundamental and unchanging
Human Flourishing – also known as personal
flourishing. It involves the rational use of one’s
individual potentialities, including talents,
abilities, and virtues in the pursuit of his freely and
rationally chosen values and goals
At the same time, it is a moral accomplishment and
a fulfillment of human capacities, and it is one
through being the other. Self-actualization is moral
growth and vice versa
The idea of human flourishing is inclusive and can
encompass a wide variety of constitutive ends such
as knowledge, the development of character traits,
productive work, religious pursuits, community
building, love, charitable activities, allegiance to
persons and causes, self-efficacy, material well-
being, pleasurable sensation, etc.
Aristotle Schema
In Aristotle’s Schema, there are Four Aspects of
Human Nature
1. Physical Beings – we require nourishment,
exercise, rest, and all the other things that it takes
to keep our bodies functioning properly
2. Emotional Beings – we have wants, desires,
urges, and reactions. We perceive something in the
world that we want and we have the power of
volition to get it; likewise, we have the power to
avoid the things we don’t want
3. Social Beings – we must live and function in
particular societies. Our social nature stacks on top
of our emotional nature, such that we have wants
and needs that we would not have were we not
social creatures
4. Rational Beings – we are creative, expressive,
knowledge-seeking and able to obey reason. We
might not always obey reason and we may
sometimes not want to exercise our minds, but a
large part of our existence relates to our being
rational animals
