Transcript for:
Technology and Heidegger's Philosophy

technology today when we think of technology we instantly think of the tools that are integrated into our everyday routines and essentially they're there to make life easier for us like a TV microwave an air conditioner a laptop a camera these headphone and iPhone the list goes on and on and on and on and sometimes we don't even think twice about what technology does for us every day we even take it for granted technology now is that's natural to us as it is riding a bike we think of technology as a means to an end as well as a human activity but what exactly the is technology what do all technological things have in common we are going to discover what exactly technology is and Martin Heidegger is the question concerning technology I'll try to keep the Heidegger isms to a limit by trying to simplify his concepts as well as make this enjoyable presentation for you as it is for me so yes technology is a means to an end otherwise known as to instrumental and a human activity otherwise known as the anthropological is this statement enough for Heidegger no of course not it's Heidegger he says yes it is technically correct but not adequate enough to define what technology really is so in order for us to fully comprehend technology we need to have a free relationship to it and we will discuss exactly what Heidegger means by that later on it is also important that in a Heidegger's world that we do not do technology the way we think of it currently which are instrumentum or tools or aids such as the iPhone glasses or even Donald Trump's toupee but instead we are seeking technology's essence it is crucial for Heidegger and also for us that we know that technology does not equal to technology's essence when we discover technology's essence we discovered the commonality that all technologies share but let's rewind a bit technology is a means to an end any human activity but suppose now that technology we're no mere means how would it stand with the to master it we will not find its essence if we think conceptually but rather we need to approach this metaphysically Heidegger moves away from this idea of instrumental versus anthropological and now we dig deeper into his philosophical side wherever there's an effect there is a cause technology isn't instrumentum so wherever instrumentality reigns there reigns causality Heidegger now dives into Aristotle's metaphysics of causality otherwise known as the four causes Heidegger uses the silver chalice as an example in explaining these causes so first we have the causa a materialist the matter or material of which it is made and in this case we have the silver secondly we have the cause of for malice the logos or form structure in which it is she in this case the chalice curved form thirdly the cause effect the ends the source of the change arrest it brings about what is made in this case the silversmith and last but not least the fourth cause to cause up finale's the final effect and reason of why it is made and escaped a sacrificial right and voila what is revealed this silver Heidegger often refers to the unconcealed we bring forth from nothing we think of an idea and make it into something tangible done concealment EKOS althaea Albea is Greek for truth technology is a mode of revealing technology comes to presence in the realm where revealing and unconcealed may take place where Albea truth happens we introduce meaning where there used to be a vague conception but how is technology revealing Heidegger infers that we must think of revealing or bringing forth as police's not only handicraft manufacture not only artistic and poetical bringing into appearance and concrete imagery is a bringing forth poesis in other words we must be sensitive and so to speak poetic to what is for what presences are laid out before us another important term Heidegger mentions is the word techne which is skill technique and also the arts of the mind and the Fine Arts tecna's - bringing forth - poesis it is something poetic when one encompasses both poesis and tech name one can reveal to us so based on all this information is a safe to say that technology's essence that it reveals out there or truth to us mmm according to Heidegger yes but no Heidegger uses the silver chalice to convey causality but can this concept apply to modern technology modern technology goes beyond causality and it has also changed a pattern revealing something quite different and radically new what is modern technology it is too revealing only when we allow our attention to rest on this fundamental characteristic does that which is new in modern technology show itself to us so are we only worried about technology the essence of technology because we are scared of what we created into the world this is one of the fundamental questions that Heidegger tries to find an answer to how is modern technology any different there is something very distinctive about modern technology we go farther away from poesis and more towards techne in which the revealing that rules and modern technology is a challenging which puts to nature the unreasonable demand that is supply energy that can be extracted and stored as such unlike earlier times when man simply brings forth today man challenges forth in other words we use and manipulate the resources Nature gives to us to manufacture to create or to reveal technology that is man-made however Heidegger goes on to say that although the windmill is a technological device mean by man the idea of challenging does not apply here instead the wind just left as is yes we use it for energy but the windmill does not unlock energy from the air currents in order to store it the windmill is technology that satisfies human without hurting nature and what Heidegger imposes here is that perhaps we need more of these technologies then on the other end of the spectrum man challenges resources when he mines coal or when he cultivates his farm soil agriculture is now the mechanized food industry air is now set upon to yield nitrogen the earth to yield or or to yield uranium for example uranium is set upon to yield atomic energy which can be released either for destruction or for peaceful use when we challenge nature's resources we always want the maximum yield at the minimum expense so what do we also do we store energy if we are not using it such challenging happens in that the energy concealed in nature is unlocked what is unlocked is transformed what is transformed is stored up what a stored up is in turn distributed and what is distributed is switched about ever and new according to Heidegger these are always a revealing but it is revealing that never comes to an end now this is where it gets tricky Heidegger often uses the term beast under the standing reserve to essentially describe how man perceives resources man no longer sees them for what they actually are but this dad sees them as waste of a film dance needs Heidegger uses to ride a famous European river as an example he argues that man no longer sees de Rhine for what it is which is a large body of water a river so we don't see it as this or this or this but instead we see the Rhine as this this band this instead a hydroelectric plant is sent into the courage of the Rhine to produce electricity for man man does not see the rivers natural tendency as the rather only sees the power it will give to him and therefore he sees it as a standing reserve another term Heidegger frequently uses if guests tell or in framing we challenge and see things as standing reserves because we are constantly in framing everything around us and framing means the gathering together of that studying upon which sets upon man ie challenges and forth to reveal the real in the mode or ordering a standing reserve when we in frame we unconcealed the standing reserve we lose sight of the things that do not fit in the standing reserve category back into concealment when we in frame as humans we always do how nature should fit with us instead of doing how we ship it with nature we are very narcissistic race in general Heidegger says that instead of allowing nature as detour to give and to reveal on its own terms bringing forth we in frame and take its resources for granted and appropriate them as standing reserves when we see this we actually see this when we see this we actually see this and when we see this we unfortunately see this we are questioning concerning technology in order to bring to light our relationship to its essence in framing is the essence of modern technology does this mean that we see the entire world as our standing reserve let's look at a contemporary example that eloquently addresses the standing reserve guest lraa framing and also Heidegger's concerns about the danger of technology out there is a world outside of yonkers way out there beyond this hidden town Barnaby there's a slick town Barnaby out there full of shine and for Sparkle close your eyes and see it listen bar to be listen wanna be but on your sunday clothes there's lots of world out there get out the brilliant team and I'm cigars we're gonna find and venture right is this funny something Falls but God and I through time in one of those new horse-drawn open cars will see the shoals of monocles too much garbage in your face there's plenty of space out in space PNL star liners leaving each day will clean up the mess while you're away the jewel of the BNL fleet the axiom spend your five-year cruise in style waited on 24 hours a day by our fully automated crew while your captain and autopilot chart a course for nonstop entertainment fine dining and with our all-access hover chairs even gramma can join the fun there's no need to walk the axiom putting the star in executive star liner because the BL space is the final we see how even at the peak of human survival we still use or in frame the universe as an alternate home we've completely destroyed Mother Earth because we continue to enflame and see it as our standing reserve where in framing rain stirs danger in the highest sense we see the danger that technology has on the world today like pollution the extinction of animals and global warming the amount of stuff and garbage we accumulate over time can very well be a scene right out of wall-e heidegger conveys that technology can work against us that not only are we harming nature we are also harming ourselves but going back to polices Heidegger also in first the system framing is also a way a revealing man also hath the power to save but where danger is grows the saving power also poetically dwelled man upon this earth fundamentally if we realize how our orientation fits with the world and realized that we in frame the world around us we can save ourselves from the damage in framing has done when we do this we achieve a free relationship with technology yes according to Heidegger we cannot escape the fate of Technology but we should always question technology in order to avoid such catastrophes such as global warming we must question how to use technology without hurting the world around us we need to go back to not only encompassing techne but also in companies saying Maurepas Heidegger surmises that the human race as a whole need to be more like poets in bringing forth as poets or artists we need to see the world for what it is because art and poetry also reveals Aldea althaea is truth and technology reveals just that with this unconcealed meant we can use technology to also save us from technology the closer we come to the danger the more brightly due the ways into the saving power begin to shine and the more questioning we become for questioning is the piety of thought Oh