STS

• Franklin D. Roosevelt: 'Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.'
• Aristotelianism

  The utmost good of a person's endeavor to accomplish a goal is to flourish. According to Aristotle, what is beneficial for beings with intentions and goals is good for all entities. The existence of unique human beings, each with their logical mind and free will is a basic aspect of being human. It sees technology as essentially a tool. According to Aristotle, technology is the organization of ways to satisfy demands put forward by humanity. This may give the impression that technology mostly focuses on the result. The value assigned to a product based on its usage and impact on society will determine whether technology is beneficial or harmful.
• Technological Pessimism

  Although technological pessimism believes that technology is developing and helpful in many ways, it also believes that it is questionable in many respects. Technology is often referred to as a tool, but in this viewpoint, it has replaced everyday life. The technique is now a framework from which people cannot break free. It has provided strategies for simplifying processes. The four points of Ellul's pessimistic thesis are that (1) technological advancement comes at a cost, (2) it causes additional difficulties, (3) it has negative impacts, and (4) it has unanticipated and terrible repercussions.
• Although Ellul has made a good case for his points, they are consistently judged to be unconvincing and untrue. He appears to have misjudged the objective judgments that a technician and other technological agencies make regarding the technology when they assess the positive and negative consequences it might have on society, like when he remarked that technological advancement can cause more issues than it solves.
• Technological Optimism

  This viewpoint is highly supported by technologists, engineers, and regular people who believe that technology can cure all troubles and bring answers to future challenges. It maintains that technology will still provide solutions even if technical difficulties develop. The most extreme manifestation of this concept is technocratism, which regards technology as the ultimate authority on everything.
• Existentialism

  The major issue of this viewpoint is the existence or manner of being of someone or something guided by the authenticity rule. This viewpoint primarily investigates the meaning of existence or being and is always confronted with the choice of which the existing must dedicate himself.
• Martin Heidegger is a well-known supporter of this philosophy. He has not stopped describing what technology is but has addressed its core. According to Heidegger, the true core of technology is enframing, the collecting of the setting upon which man is challenged to bring the concealed to the revealed, and this is a constant unveiling.
• Instrumental Definition of Technology

  According to Heidegger, the instrumental conception of technology invites us to see technology from different eras of time as having no essential distinctions. However, he claims that this does not capture the essential core of technology. He said that while technology is focused on addressing human needs, there is still a distinction between traditional handcraft technologies and contemporary technology.
• Heidegger also noted that the instrumental definition leads man to a never-ending drive to master it, which may unintentionally cause technology to spiral out of control.
• Heidegger argues that although it is accurate, this description of technology falls short of capturing its true character. He said, "In order that we may arrive at this, or at least come close to it, we must seek the truth by way of the correct. We must ask: What is the instrumental itself? Within what do such things as means and ends belong?
• Aristotle's Four Causes

  1. Causa Materialis or the Material Cause: The material by which the silver chalice was made of: Silver

  2. Causa Formalis or the Formal Cause: The form or the shape that gave the silver chalice its image.

  3. Causa Finalis or the Final Cause: The fundamental function for which the silver chalice was created was to hold the wine, which stands in for the blood of Christ, during Holy Communion.

  4. Causa Efficiens or the Efficient Cause: The agent that has caused for the silver chalice to come about: the silversmith
• Poiesis


  The process of anything coming into being, and an outside force defines it. It is bringing something hidden into the open, transforming technology into both a means and a means of revelation.
• Physis


  Anything that occurred naturally, such as a flower blooming in a field or a tree yielding its fruit. Even without assistance from the outside, the flower bloomed, and the tree produced fruit.
• Enframing

  Contains the true content or essence of technology. This is the ongoing pulling out of hiding of what is hidden. This is an ongoing revelation that makes it clear that something has to be made public. This coming forth into the open involves a two-way exchange: the concealed calls out for someone to set upon it and bring it to unconcealment, and the one who hears the call sets upon and acts upon the concealed in order to bring it to unconcealment.
• Heidegger further highlighted the risk associated with technology because of this ongoing revelation. The desire to reveal what has been hidden also serves to hide something further. Furthermore, when one seeks to comprehend something, he tends to close off to the thing being opened up to him. Man also has a tendency to misinterpret what is being shown to him.
• The Mode of Revealing in Modern Technology

  Modern technology is shown by nature's difficulties because, rather than bringing about changes, it imposes demands on nature in order to: 1) Unlock and expose. 2) Stockpiles for future use.
• While Heidegger contends that this is not only human action, the constant revelation occurs when man permits himself to be a character in the setting upon challenges to nature. Man can set upon what was already concealed as he responds to the call of unconcealment, but "when man, investigating, observing, pursue nature as an area of his own conceiving, he has already been claimed by way of revealing that challenges him to approach nature as an object of research, until even the object disappears into the objectlessness of standing-reserve".
• The Danger of the Nonstop Revealing

  By disclosing, a relationship between a person and the outside world is opened up, but whatever is opened up also has to be closed down, so as one item is exposed, another must be kept hidden.
• Enframing

  Where technology's core rests
• Modern technology continues the manner of revelation
• Man must always respond to what is provided or the need for a better and more effective means of accomplishing a goal
• The threat Heidegger warned about is the ongoing struggle for the revealed to become even more exposed
• By disclosing

  A relationship between a person and the outside world is opened up
• Whatever is opened up

  Also has to be closed down
• Man's tendency to misunderstand what is provided to him poses another threat
• When man misunderstands, he is not seeing the object but rather himself in it
• Man also has a propensity to become so immersed in the frame that he neglects to consider the outcomes and implications of placing onto an object that might be harmful to himself and others, the environment, and even other people
• This takes place when he begins to think that technology is the answer to every problem that faces humanity and that even happiness for humans depends on technology's ongoing advancement
• Present-day man prefers to find enjoyment in the accomplishments that come from modern technology, as may be seen by observing his surroundings
• A man's worth seems to be his ability to use a smartphone, tablet, or laptop, all of which have unique capabilities and come in various sizes and designs
• Social media have impacted the lives of many people
• As individuals labor harder to upgrade their devices, face-to-face social contacts are becoming less and less common
• Every time a new product is created, the man discovers a new desire that can only be satisfied by a new product; thus, it appears that there is no such thing as contentment
• The necessity for physical work is declining due to the availability of machinery, and these new items tend to replace men in society
• According to Heidegger, this may be avoided if man would not allow himself to be overwhelmed by the enframing that he was put upon but instead halt for a time and consider the worth of what is offered
• It's important to strike a balance between anthropological research and technology
• One must understand that technology concerns the means and the end; as one proverb goes, "the end does not justify the means"
• According to Heidegger, the answer to this problem is for man to stop dominating and manipulating what he was given instead of allowing nature to show itself to him
• Heidegger asserts that as a result, man will be able to interact freely with technology
• According to biologists, plants, animals, and other living things share people's characteristics