The primary goal of this thesis is to show that Martin Heidegger's philosophy of
technology stems directly from his ontology. Specifically that his notion of technology,
as the enframing destining spirit of this age, is a revelation of being itself as technology
in this age. The thesis begins with an introduction that sets up the major points and
briefly summarizes each of the chapters. Chapter I primarily deals with the question of
what motivates Heidegger to reflect philosophically on technology. This idea is also
broadened to include the basic experiences and concepts that might cause anyone to
reflect on technology. The historical, scientific, metaphysical, practical, personal, and
spiritual are the motivational forces that drive someone to philosophize about
technology. This is shown through an analysis of selected works from Iain Thomson,
Don Ihde, W.P.S. Dias, and Hubert Dreyfus. The chapter ends with a return to the notion
of being. Chapter II mainly deals with a textual analysis of the introduction to Being and
Time, and The Question Concerning Technology. The idea of being is examined in
detail, and a workable notion of being is extracted from the text. Then Heidegger's
philosophy of technology is explained using the QCT. These ideas are put together and it
is shown that technology is being as the destining of this present age. Yet technology poses a danger to being, and indeed to humanity. The third chapter examines the
alternatives to this danger in the form of Heidegger's saving power, as discussed in his
essay The Turning. The lesser dangers of technology are also reconsidered, as the truth
of Heidegger's answer comes to light. The truth of the saving power is that releasement
towards a new destining will surmount the danger of technology. Yet this reveals that
being takes a care for humanity, and this opens up the path for the unconcealing of
God's active power in the world of technology. Ultimately, only God can save humanity
from the danger of technology, but He will only be revealed through the new destining
revealing of being.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/4247 |
| Date | 30 October 2006 |
| Creators | Taylor, James Michael |
| Contributors | George, Theodore |
| Publisher | Texas A&M University |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Thesis, text |
| Format | 416998 bytes, electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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