RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

RIZA
Cities ofLMandaluyong
TECHNO LO
and GICAL UNIVERSITY
Pasig
Cities of Mandaluyong and Pasig

LESSON 1:
Technology as a Way of
Revealing

Student Name
Section
Schedule
Program
College
Professor

GE07 – Science, Technology, and Society

1ST SEMESTER I 2021 - 2022
0
 RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
Cities of Mandaluyong and Pasig

Technology as a Way of Revealing

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this section, the students should be able to:

1. differentiate the essences of technology and modern technology;

2. discuss and illustrate the dangers of modern technology; and
3. explain why art is the saving power of modern technology.

Topic Presentation

At A Glance: Who is Martin Heidegger?

"The essence of technology is by no means anything technological" — Martin

Heidegger (1977)

Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) is widely acknowledged 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, Michel Foucault, and Jean-
Francois Lyotard.

In 1933, he joined the Nazi Party (NSDAP) and remained to be a member until it was
dismantled toward the end of World War II. This resulted in his dismissal from the
University of Freiburg in 1949. He was only able to resume teaching in 1951.
Heidegger's membership to the Nazi Party made him controversial - his philosophical
work was often eclipsed by his political affiliation, with critics saying that his philosophy
would always be rooted in his political consciousness.

Heidegger's work on philosophy focused on ontology or the study of 'being' or dasein

in German. His philosophical works are often described as complicated, partly due to
his use of complex compound German words, such as Seinsvergessenheit
(Forgetfulness of Being), Bodenstondigkeit (Rootedness-in-Soil), and
Wesensverfassung (Essential Constitution).

To know more about the life and philosophy of Heidegger, watch a five-minute
YouTube video entitled, The Philosophy of Martin Heidegger which can be accessed
on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br1sGrA7XTU. Remember, it is
important to understand basic concepts related to Heidegger's philosophy to better
make sense of his work.

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 RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
Cities of Mandaluyong and Pasig

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
way 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: instrumental and 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 on 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.

2. Anthropological definition: Technology is a human activity.

Alternatively, 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 correct. However, neither
touches on the true essence of 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. 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 poems—a way of revealing that

unconceals aletheia or 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?

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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 poiesis. 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 poiesis. Instead, Heidegger considers
modern technology's way of revealing as a way of challenging forth. Modern
technology challenges 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 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 flavorings, 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 akin 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 not 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

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destining of humans to reveal nature carries with it the danger of misconstruction or

misinterpretation.

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 for 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 a 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 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. 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 technological (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 Hölderlin, a German poet
quoted by Heidegger, said: "But where danger is, grows the saving power also" (1977,
p. 14). 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" (1977, p. 18). 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. 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

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reflection on art, for its part, does not shut its eyes to the constellation of truth
after which we are questioning (1977, p. 19).

Questioning as the Piety of Thought

Heidegger 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 (1977, p. 19).

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 to bring 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.

References

• Quinto, EJM & Nieva, AD. 2019. Science, Technology and Society –
Outcome-Based Module. C & E Publishing, Inc. pp62-pp80.

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