philosophy

• PHILOSOPHY- The study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind and language.
• Technological pessimism- a tendency to see the worst aspect of things or believes that the worst will happen; a lack of hope or confidence in the future.
• Amish - a group of traditionalist Christian church fellowships with Swiss German and Alsatian Anabaptist origins.
• The Amish are a traditionalist Christian based community with a common lifestyle: simple living, plain dress, and no technology
• Technological optimism - Refers to the unending human ingenuity, or at least human ingenuity with no foreseeable limit because human ingenuity is a necessary element though not a sufficient factor in the condition of technological advance
• EXAMPLES OF HUMAN INGENUITY

  1. Systems
  2. Communication
  3. Technology
  4. Art
• Systems— laws, methods of government, transportation, education, healthcare.
• Communication — statistics, language, mathematical formulae, codes.
• Technology— buildings, machinery, tools. thought—principles, concepts, ideas, opinions, attitudes.
• Art— painting, sculpture, embroidery, theatre, music.
• MARTIN HEIDEGGER - German philosopher whose work is associated with phenomenology and existentialism.
• Heidegger - He begins “The Question Concerning Technology”.
• Phenomenology - is the study of structures of consciousness as experienced from the first-person point of view
• Existentialism - is the philosophical belief we are responsible for creating purpose or meaning in our own lives
• Technology is a means to an end
• Technology is a human activity
• ENFRAMING -is the manner in which Being manifests itself in the age of technology
• Enframing allows human being to reveal reality as standing reserve
• Calculative thinking - One orders and puts a system to nature so it can be understood better and controlled
• Meditative thinking - One lets nature reveal itself to him/ her without forcing it.
• Causa Materialis - the Material Cause (-silver)
• Causa Formalis (-form or shape)
• Causa Finalis (the purpose)
• Causa Efficiens (agent: silversmith)
• Causality - -Technology brings about change causally
• Causality -The cause is what is responsible for the effect, and the effect is indebted to the cause
• Causality -The unifying notion is that of starting something on its way to arrival
• Causality -Being responsible is an inducing to go forward
• The bringing forth - a bringing out of concealment
• Greeks understood techne, which encompasses not only craft, but other acts of the mind, and poetry
• revealing of modern technology is not a bringing-forth, but a challenging-forth
• Modern technology - It challenges nature, by extracting something from it and transforming it, storing it up, distributing it, etc.
• The Standing-Reserve - Man becomes the instrument of technology, to be exploited in the ordering of nature
• Enframing- more basic process of revealing
• Enframing is the essence of technology
• In enframing, the actual is revealed as a standing-reserve
• The destining of man to reveal nature carries with it the danger of misconstrual
• Danger - he may find only himself in nature
• real threat of technology comes from its essence, not its activities or products
• Aristotelianism → Views Technology as a means to an end