Technology & Heidegger

["Tim Gwinn" <***>]

Hi all,

I stumbled across an interesting 9-page summary of a 1953 essay by
philosopher Martin Heidegger entitled "The Question Concerning Technology".
Several of the points described in the summary seem relevant to our recent
discussion of humans, technology and ecology. It also gives Heidegger's
interpretation of Aristotelian 'causality', which is interesting insofar as
Heidegger is a meticulous Greek scholar.

URL: http://maven.english.hawaii.edu/criticalink/heidegger/guide1.html

Here is one paragraph from the article:
====
"When Heidegger states that "the essence of technology is by no means
anything technological," he means that technology's driving force is not
located in machines themselves, nor even in the various human activities
that are associated with modern modes of production. In his example of the
automobile, the parts the make up the machine as well as the labor of the
factory workers all belong to technology, but are not its essence. The
"frame of mind" that views the world--its reserves of metal ore, its
chemical structures, its human population--as raw materials for the
production of automobiles approaches more closely what Heidegger means by
the essence of technology. Heidegger's argument, however, is more
far-reaching. He claims that enframing stems from the human drive for a
"precise" and "scientific" knowledge of the world."
====

Regards,
Tim