Abdulrahman Alabdullatif

Dr. Javier Cardoza-Kon

Portland - FRINQ
April 18, 2016
Reading response and presentation on:
The Question Concerning Technology

In the introduction of the writing, Heidegger introduces his main point of the
writing, which is to investigate technology in order to prepare us for a free relationship
to it. One of the main discussions in this writing is about the way we treat technology,
relate to it, how we think about it, and what we picture it to be in the future. The author
does not have a problem with the existence of technology, but rather our orientation to
technology. It becomes clear in Heideggers opinion, that our response to the various
problems brought about by technology cannot be solved simply by making the
technology better. It is also impossible to ignore these difficulties simply by what he calls
"opting out" of technology.
The author explains in his words how we generally think about technology. He
writes, technology is means to an end, and technology is a human activity. These two
answers make up what he calls instrumental technology, which is aimed at getting
things done, and anthropological technology, which is the human activity. For better
understanding, Instrumental technology is the technology that help us achieve our
goals. Cars, and Airplanes are good examples of instrumental technologies.
Modern technology, Heidegger has told us, reveals. But its revealing is different
from that of the older crafts. To explain this difference more fully, Heidegger introduces
the idea of the "standing reserve."

"Standing reserve" is closely related to the idea of "instrumentality" with which the
essay begins. Technology's instrumental orientation to the world transforms the world
into "standing reserve." We might say that for technology, nothing in the world is "good"
in and of itself, but only "good for" something. In the grip of technology, things no longer
get to "arrive." A Car, for example, has no meaning or value of itself; it is only a means
of transportation and its value to humanity is completely tied to its being at humanity's
disposal.
we might assume, is that modern technology is based on modern physics, and
this is wrong in Heideggers opinion. Heidegger suggests that the development of
science has no impact on the development in technology. In fact, he believes that
technology is the reason behind the advancement in science. In other words, science
cannot be viewed as a cause or an origin of technology.
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1- Is it valid to go all the way back to Greek philosophy and to apply its concepts to
modern technology?
2- Is it true that the advancement in technology is the reason behind the advancement
is science, or is it the other way around?