A Response to Don Ihde's Charge
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Ontotheology? Understanding Heidegger’S Destruktion of Metaphysics* Iain Thomson
T E D U L G O E R · Internationa l Journal o f Philo sophical Studies Vol.8(3), 297–327; · T a p y u lo o r Gr & Fr ancis Ontotheology? Understanding Heidegger’s Destruktion of Metaphysics* Iain Thomson Abstract Heidegger’s Destruktion of the metaphysical tradition leads him to the view that all Western metaphysical systems make foundational claims best understood as ‘ontotheological’. Metaphysics establishes the conceptual parameters of intelligibility by ontologically grounding and theologically legitimating our changing historical sense of what is. By rst elucidating and then problematizing Heidegger’s claim that all Western metaphysics shares this ontotheological structure, I reconstruct the most important components of the original and provocative account of the history of metaphysics that Heidegger gives in support of his idiosyncratic understanding of metaphysics. Arguing that this historical narrative generates the critical force of Heidegger’s larger philosophical project (namely, his attempt to nd a path beyond our own nihilistic Nietzschean age), I conclude by briey showing how Heidegger’s return to the inception of Western metaphysics allows him to uncover two important aspects of Being’s pre-metaphysical phenomeno- logical self-manifestation, aspects which have long been buried beneath the metaphysical tradition but which are crucial to Heidegger’s attempt to move beyond our late-modern, Nietzschean impasse. Keywords: Heidegger; ontotheology; metaphysics; deconstruction; Nietzsche; nihilism Upon hearing the expression ‘ontotheology’, many philosophers start looking for the door. Those who do not may know that it was under the title of this ‘distasteful neologism’ (for which we have Kant to thank)1 that the later Heidegger elaborated his seemingly ruthless critique of Western metaphysics. -
Ihde's Encounter with “Technological Determinism”
Ihde’s Encounter with “Technological Determinism” in Technology and the Lifeworld Hossein Kaji 1. An Overview: Ihde’s Contribution in the Philosophy of Technology The philosophy of technology is an emerging discipline whose roots date back to Martin Heidegger’s tools analysis in Being and Time (Heidegger, 1927). In this book, Heidegger originally and creatively establishes a kind of hermeneutics of “human-tool relations” in which a clear distinction between two modes of being, two distinct relations of human-tool, are explored. For Heidegger, Zuhandenheit (ready to hand) and Vorhandenheit (present at hand) are two distinct modes of being in the world with their own specific features. According to Heidegger, Zuhandenheit is a “mode of being in the world" that shows itself in practice. For example, when one utilizes a hammer to hit a nail, the Zuhandenheit is constituted; the hammer is used to (in order to) do something. Regarding Heidegger’s phenomenology in this example, the resulting function is pushing a nail; the hammer is not a “thing”, rather it is a mode of being in the world used in order to do something. The Zuhandenheit is defined as the function of a tool which is designed in order to do something (Heidegger, 1927/2010, pp. 69-71). At this level, a thing appears as “equipment” (tool). Further, let us consider the outcome of a situation where there is an issue during the process of hammering (i.e. the handle breaking). In this situation, the relation of Vorhandenheit is formed. For Heidegger, the first relation with tools is an authentic one that is practice-oriented and context-oriented. -
Phenomenological Perspectives on Technological Posthumanism
Master thesis Phenomenological perspectives on technological posthumanism Supervisors: prof. dr. Paul Ziche, dr. Iris van der Tuin Date: 10. 8. 2017 Name: Tomáš Čech Student number: 5656664 Number of Words: 24 678 i Content 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Posthumanism/transhumanism – how to make sense of it all ......................................................... 4 2.1. What is transhumanism and transhuman? ............................................................................... 7 2.2. Transhumanist perception of technology and science ........................................................... 11 2.3. Comparison between transhumanism and religion ................................................................ 13 2.4. In Summary ........................................................................................................................... 15 3. Debate about transhumanism ........................................................................................................ 15 3.1. Transhumanism as an ideology ............................................................................................. 17 3.2. Reaction to transhumanism - bioconservatism ...................................................................... 21 3.3. Bioconservative arguments – why transhumanism is not such a great idea .......................... 26 3.4. Human dignity and the transhumanism debate..................................................................... -
Husserl's Position Between Dilthey and the Windelband-Rickert School of Neo-Kantianism John E
Sacred Heart University DigitalCommons@SHU Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Publications 4-1988 Husserl's Position Between Dilthey and the Windelband-Rickert School of Neo-Kantianism John E. Jalbert Sacred Heart University Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.sacredheart.edu/rel_fac Part of the Philosophy of Mind Commons, and the Philosophy of Science Commons Recommended Citation Jalbert, John E. "Husserl's Position Between Dilthey and the Windelband-Rickert School of Neo-Kantianism." Journal of the History of Philosophy 26.2 (1988): 279-296. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies at DigitalCommons@SHU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@SHU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. +XVVHUO V3RVLWLRQ%HWZHHQ'LOWKH\DQGWKH:LQGHOEDQG5LFNHUW 6FKRRORI1HR.DQWLDQLVP John E. Jalbert Journal of the History of Philosophy, Volume 26, Number 2, April 1988, pp. 279-296 (Article) 3XEOLVKHGE\7KH-RKQV+RSNLQV8QLYHUVLW\3UHVV DOI: 10.1353/hph.1988.0045 For additional information about this article http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/hph/summary/v026/26.2jalbert.html Access provided by Sacred Heart University (5 Dec 2014 12:35 GMT) Husserl's Position Between Dilthey and the Windelband- Rickert School of Neo- Kanuamsm JOHN E. JALBERT THE CONTROVERSY AND DEBATE over the character of the relationship between the natural and human sciences (Natur- und Geisteswissenschaflen) became a central theme for philosophical reflection largely through the efforts of theo- rists such as Wilhelm Dilthey and the two principal representatives of the Baden School of Neo-Kantians, Wilhelm Windelband and Heinrich Rickert.~ These turn of the century theorists are major figures in this philosophical arena, but they are by no means the only participants in the effort to grapple with this issue. -
Heidegger, Marcuse, Feenberg1
SYMPOSIUM ON QUESTIONING TECHNOLOGY BY ANDREW FEENBERG 11th Biennial Conference of the Society for Philosophy and Technology, San Jose, California, 1999. [Inquiry, Summer 2000, pp. 225-238.] From the Question Concerning Technology to the Quest for a Democratic Technology: Heidegger, Marcuse, Feenberg1 Iain Thomson University of California, San Diego Abstract Andrew Feenberg's most recent contribution to the critical theory of technology, Questioning Technology, is best understood as a synthesis and extension of the critiques of technology developed by Heidegger and Marcuse. By thus situating Feenberg's endeavor to articulate and preserve a meaningful sense of agency in our increasingly technologized lifeworld, I show that some of the deepest tensions in Heidegger and Marcuse's relation re-emerge within Feenberg's own critical theory. Most significant here is the fact that Feenberg, following Marcuse, exaggerates Heidegger's 'fatalism' about technology. I contend that this mistake stems from Feenberg's false ascription of a technological 'essentialism' to Heidegger. Correcting this and several related problems, I reconstruct Feenberg's 'radical democratic' call for a counter-hegemonic democratization of technological design, arguing that although this timely and important project takes its inspiration from Marcuse, in the end Feenberg remains closer to Heidegger than his Marcuseanism allows him to acknowledge. I. Introduction Richard Wolin has remarked that '[t]he full story of Marcuse's relation to Heidegger has yet to be written.'2 Indeed, there are at least two stories to be told about the Marcuse-Heidegger relationship: the story of its historical past and the story of its philosophical future. Let us hope that intellectual historians like Wolin will continue to bring the past of this important relation to light; in the meantime, Andrew Feenberg has already begun writing the philosophical story of its future. -
Ontology and Ethics at the Intersection of Phenomenology and Environmental Philosophy*
Inquiry, 47, 380–412 Ontology and Ethics at the Intersection of Phenomenology and Environmental Philosophy* Iain Thomson University of New Mexico The idea inspiring the eco-phenomenological movement is that phenomenology can help remedy our environmental crisis by uprooting and replacing environmentally- destructive ethical and metaphysical presuppositions inherited from modern philosophy. Eco-phenomenology’s critiques of subject/object dualism and the fact/value divide are sketched and its positive alternatives examined. Two competing approaches are discerned within the eco-phenomenological movement: Nietzscheans and Husserlians propose a naturalistic ethical realism in which good and bad are ultimately matters of fact, and values should be grounded in these proto- ethical facts; Heideggerians and Levinasians articulate a transcendental ethical realism according to which we discover what really matters when we are appropriately open to the environment, but what we thereby discover is a transcendental source of meaning that cannot be reduced to facts, values, or entities of any kind. These two species of ethical realism generate different kinds of ethical perfectionism: naturalistic ethical realism yields an eco-centric perfectionism which stresses the flourishing of life in general; transcendental ethical realism leads to a more ‘humanistic’ perfectionism which emphasizes the cultivation of distinctive traits of Dasein. Both approaches are examined, and the Heideggerian strand of the humanistic approach defended, since it approaches the best elements of the eco-centric view while avoiding its problematic ontological assumptions and anti-humanistic implications. I. Introduction: Uncovering the Conceptual Roots of Environmental Devastation What happens when you cross phenomenology with environmental philoso- phy? According to the editors of Eco-Phenomenology: Back to the Earth Itself, you get an important interdisciplinary movement. -
A Postphenomenological Perspective
Aesthetic Experience in Virtual Museums: A Postphenomenological Perspective BART G. MOENS, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium This article explores the impact of the digitization of traditional works of art on the aesthetic experience from a philosophical point of view. Presenting and making use of a recent approach in the philosophy of technology, initiated by the American philosopher Don Ihde, called postphenomenology. This hybrid form of phenomenology builds on traditional phenomenology and combines it with a pragmatic approach in order to focus on the mediating roles of technology. Concrete technologies and applications such as screens and virtual museums are the starting point for our examination of the specific character of these digital media, which are then compared with their physical referents. Following Ihde’s arguments, we show that digital image technologies, and digital images themselves, are not merely functional, but shape perceptions and experiences. Although currently the positive effects and opportunities of these new applications are emphasized in the field – for collection management, the democratization and accessibility of art, possibilities to interact and intervene in the image, efficient marketing, etc. – they do have a significant impact on the way in which art is experienced. Key words: Digitization of art, Virtual museums, Aesthetic experience, Postphenomenology. SDH Reference: Bart Moens. 2018. Aesthetic Experience in Virtual Museums: A Postphenomenological Perspective. SDH, 2, 1, 68-79. DOI: 10.14434/sdh.v2i1.24468 1. INTRODUCTION: ANALOG ART GOES DIGITAL Over the past decades human society has gone through far-reaching transformations by means of so-called disruptive digital technologies such as the Internet, computers, smartphones, etc. [World economic Forum 2015]. -
From Da Vinci to CAD and Beyond
Synthese (2009) 168:453–467 DOI 10.1007/s11229-008-9445-0 From da Vinci to CAD and beyond Don Ihde Received: 17 April 2007 / Accepted: 18 November 2008 / Published online: 6 December 2008 © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2008 Abstract Here what I would like to accomplish is to set something of the stage from which the growing recognition of what I shall now term technoscience’s visualism—a term which can accommodate both sciences and engineering, and both imaging and design practices—takes its recognition. I shall very briefly look at the ‘godfathers and peers’ who help set this stage, and then proceed to an examination of a few moments in the development of visualism from da Vinci to computer assisted design (CAD) and beyond. Keywords Computer assisted design · Imaging technologies · Postphenomenology · Visualism · Whole body experience “Visualization” is today a totally common term in a variety of practices, including those practices in the sciences and engineering to be examined here. I do not know how recently “visualization” began to be used, but I suspect it is of mid-20th century origin. Note that to ‘visualize’ is both more specific and narrower than, say, the older use of Gedankenexperimenten, or ‘imaginative variations’ or other less sensory- specific modes of illustration. Although it is not often noted, Albert Einstein often used human bodily experiences to illustrate his physical theories—for example, the equivalence of acceleration and gravity was related to how kinesthetic experience would respond to these phenomena—although he often also used simple visual obser- vation examples as well. -
Sánchez 2020 Page 1 Carlos Alberto Sánchez, Phd Professor Of
Carlos Alberto Sánchez, PhD Professor of Philosophy San José State University (408)924-7581 [email protected] http://www.sjsu.edu/people/carlos.sanchez Areas of Research and Publication • Mexican Philosophy • Philosophy of Violence • Philosophy of Immigration • Philosophy of History • Phenomenology and Existentialism Education • PhD., Philosophy, University of New Mexico, 2006. (Iain Thomson, Chair) • M.A., Philosophy, San Jose State University, 2000. • B.S., Advertising, San Jose State University, 1998. Academic Posts • Professor, 2015—Present San Jose State University o San Jose State University’s President Scholar 2017-2018 (Awarded to University’s Top Faculty Scholar). • Associate Professor, 2010—2015 San Jose State University • Assistant Professor, 2006—2010 San Jose State University Books Published (6) 1. (2020) Sánchez, Carlos Alberto & Francisco Gallegos. The Disintegration of Community: On Jorge Portilla’s Social and Political Philosophy, with Translations of Selected Essays. Albany: State University of New York Press. 2. (2017) Sánchez, Carlos Alberto & Robert E. Sanchez (Editors). Mexican Philosophy in the 20th Century: Essential Readings. Oxford University Press. 3. (2016) Sánchez, Carlos Alberto. Contingency and Commitment: Mexican Existentialism and the Place of Philosophy. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. 4. (2012) Sánchez, Carlos Alberto. The Suspension of Seriousness: On the Phenomenology of Jorge Portilla. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. 5. (2010) Sánchez, Carlos Alberto. From Epistemic Justification to Philosophical Authenticity: A Study in Husserl’s Phenomenological Epistemology. Lambert Academic Publishing. Sánchez 2020 Page 1 6. (2010) Sánchez, Carlos A. & Jules Simon. The Thought and Social Engagement in the Mexican- American Philosophy of John H. Haddox. Lewinston: The Edwin Mellen Press. -
A Hermeneutics of Technology a Hermeneutics of Technology
A HERMENEUTICS OF TECHNOLOGY A HERMENEUTICS OF TECHNOLOGY: DON IHDE'S POSTMODERN PHILOSOPHY OF TECHNOLOGY By DIANA MARIA ZORN, B.A. A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts McMaster University (c) Copyright by Diana Maria Zorn, March 1994 MASTER OF ARTS (1994) McMASTER UNIVERSITY (Philosophy) Hamilton, Ontario TITLE: A Hermeneutics of Technology: Don Hide's Postmodern Philosophy of Technology AUTHOR: Diana Maria Zorn, B.A. (University of Toronto) SUPERVISOR: Professor G.B. Madison SECOND READER: Professor Don Ihde THIRD READER: Professor W. Waluchow NUMBER OF PAGES: 114 ii Abstract If traditional, modem philosophy of technology fails to genuinely understand the phenomena of technology, then emancipatory reflection, such as Don Ihde's, is required for philosophy of technology to have a future. Ihde's postmodern perspective and hermeneutic framework re-understands the meaning, knowledge and truth of technology as correlated with consciousness and embedded in cultures, while clarifying the relation between the interpreter and the technology he seeks to understand. The first part of my thesis argues that Ihde's philosophy of technology is generally postmodern for the following two main reasons: (1) Ihde's adaptation of the Husserlian model of intentionality, the basis of his phenomenology of human-technology relations, undermines the subject-object distinction prevalent in modem philosophy of technology, thereby recognizing the correlation between consciousness and technology; (2) by uncovering the cultural embeddedness of technologies, Hide rejects the emphasis of modem inquiry on the issue of whether we "control" technology, or it "controls" us. -
Interview with Don Ihde, Stony Brook 9Th of May 2003”, In: Januar 2004, 15 Sider] INTERVIEW with DON IHDE Stony Brook 9Th of May 2003
[Albrechtslund, Anders: ”Interview with Don Ihde, Stony Brook 9th of May 2003”, in: www.filosofi.net, januar 2004, 15 sider] INTERVIEW WITH DON IHDE Stony Brook 9th of May 2003 Participants: DON IHDE and ANDERS ALBRECHTSLUND. Don Ihde is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Stony Brook Univer- sity, NY. Anders Albrechtslund is a recent graduate in Philosophy from the University of Southern Denmark. ALBRECHTSLUND: I would like to begin with a general question. How do you see philosophy of technology in relation to philosophy in general? Why do you think technology has become a philoso- phical issue today? IHDE: That is actually a very interesting question. Obviously philosophy of technol- ogy comes very late to philosophy. I think, in part, that is due to a traditional preju- dice in philosophy to think of itself as being primarily geared toward the theoretical, the speculative and the abstract etc. Technology is clearly something very material, concrete and particular. Although philosophers have used technology metaphori- cally as early as Plato, they really did not get interested in technologies per se until late modernity. In the nineteenth century, Marx and other neo-Hegelians got interested in modes of production and technology and so forth. I think this is in response to the increasing obviousness and powers of technology that maybe only became ap- parent with industrial size technology, even though humans have always used tech- nologies in some respect. But philosophy of technology, as it is now, is really a twentieth century phenome- non, even though there are anticipations in the late nineteenth century. -
Heidegger on Ontological Education, Or: How We Become What We
Inquiry, 44, 243–68 Heidegger on Ontological Education,or: How We Become What We Are Iain Thomson University of NewMexico Heidegger presciently diagnosed the current crisis in higher education. Contemporary theorists like Bill Readings extend and update Heidegger’s critique, documenting the increasing instrumentalization, professionalization, vocationalization, corporatization, and technologization of the modern university, the dissolution of its unifying and guiding ideals, and, consequently, the growing hyper-specialization and ruinous fragmentation of its departments. Unlike Heidegger, however, these critics do not recognize such disturbing trends as interlocking symptoms of an underlying ontological problem and so they provide no positive vision for the future of higher education. Byunderstanding our educational crisis ‘ontohistorically’, Heidegger is able to develop an alternative, ontological conception of education which he hopes will help bring about arenaissance of the university. In aprovocative reading of Plato’s famous ‘allegory of the cave’, Heidegger excavates and appropriates the original Western educational ideal of Platonic paideia,outlining the pedagogy of an ontological education capable of directly challenging the ‘technological understanding of being’he holds responsible for our contemporary educational crisis. This notion of ontological education can best be understood as aphilosophical perfectionism, are-essentialization of the currently empty ideal of educational ‘excellence’by which Heidegger believes wecan reconnect