CHAP 4

• Martin Heidegger


  Widely acknowledged as one of the most important philosophers of the 20th century, German philosopher who was part of the Continental tradition of Philosophy
• In 1933, Heidegger joined the Nazi Party and remained a member until it was dismantled toward the end of WWII. His 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 Seisvergessenheit (Forgetfulness of Being), Bodenständigkeit (Rootedness-in-Soil), and Wesensverfassung (Essential Constitution)
• Instrumental definition of technology

  Technology is a means to an end
• Anthropological definition of technology

  Technology is a human activity
• Poiesis


  The act of bringing something out of concealment (Ancient Greek philosophical concept)
• Aletheia


  Unclosedness, unconcealedness, disclosure or truth (Ancient Greek concept)
• Techne


  The Greek word for technology, which encompasses not only craft, but other acts of the mind and poetry
• Heidegger posited that both primitive crafts and modern technology are revealing
• Challenging forth


  Modern technology's way of revealing, which reduces objects as standing-reserve or something to be disposed of by those who enframe them – humans
• Calculative thinking


  Humans desire to put an order to nature to better understand and control it
• Meditative thinking


  Humans allow nature to reveal itself to them without the use of force or violence
• Enframing


  A way of ordering nature to better manipulate it, due to humans' desire for security, even if it puts all of nature as a standing reserve ready for exploitation
• 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 correct response to the danger of technology is not simply dismissing technology altogether
• Art as the saving power


  Art encourages humans to think less from a calculative standpoint where nature is viewed as an ordered system, and instead inspires meditative thinking where nature is seen as art and that without any force and violence
• Questioning as the piety of thought

  Heidegger underscored the importance of questioning in the midst of technology, as 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