TECHNOLOGY

AS A MODE
OF
REVEALING
Martin Heidegger

• German philosopher and a seminal

thinker in the Continental tradition of
philosophy.

• Widely acknowledged to be one of the

most original and important
philosophers of the 20th century.

• Best known for his contributions

to phenomenology, hermeneutics,
and
existentialism
 The Question of Technology

• Technology is a means to an
end.

• Technology is a human
activity.

“The definition is “correct” but not necessarily true.”

-Martin Heidegger
 What is Technology
According to Heidegger
• Technology is not an instrument

• Technology is not a product of

human activity

• Technology is the highest

dangerous
 Technology is not an instrument,
but is a way to understand the world.

A power plant built into the

river Rhine that forces the
Rhine to show itself as a
supplier of energy.

A bridge built over the

Rhine that respects the
floating of the Rhine
itself and doesn't force
it to show itself as a
supplier of energy.
Technology is not a product of human
activity.

• Heidegger says that analysis is not go deep

enough. As we saw technology is the way of
understanding the world and we do not
decide ourselves on how to understand the
world around us.

Technology is the highest dangerous.

• The humans as raw materials and the will to

power.
“Revealing” is one of the terms Heidegger developed
himself in order to make it possible to think what,
according to him, is not thought anymore.

Heidegger also put forward the ancient Greek

concepts of:

• Aletbeia – unhiddenness or disclosure

• Poiesis – bringing forth
• Techne – skill, art or craft

In Heidegger’s work, technology is a poiesis that

discloses or reveals the truth
TECHNOLOGY
AS POIESIS
 Technology as Poiesis

• Heidegger characteristics that modern

technology is a challenging forth because of
very aggressive in it’s activity.

• Revealing never comes to an end. The revealing

always happens on our own terms as everything
is on demand.

• Heidegger described the modern technology as

the age of switches, standing reserve, and
stockpiling for its own sake.
QUESTIONING AS
THE PIETY OF
THOUGHT
Questioning as the Piety of Thought

• For Heidegger, piety means obedience and

submission.

• Whatever understanding is found becomes

significant because it is evoked by
questioning who or what we essentially are
in the world.