This collection offers the first comprehensive and definitive account of Martin Heidegger’s philosophy of technology. It does so through a detailed analysis of canonical texts and recently published primary sources on two crucial concepts in Heidegger’s later thought: Gelassenheit and Gestell. Gelassenheit, translated as ‘releasement’, and Gestell, often translated as ‘enframing’, stand as opposing ideas in Heidegger’s work whereby the meditative thinking of Gelassenheit counters the dangers of our technological framing of the world in Gestell. After opening with a scholarly overview of Heidegger’s philosophy of technology as a whole, this volume focuses on important Heideggerian critiques of science, technology, and modern industrialized society as well as Heidegger’s belief that transformations in our thought processes enable us to resist the restrictive domain of modern techno-scientific practice. Key themes discussed in this collection include: the history, development, and defining features of modern technology; the relationship between scientific theories and their technological instantiations; the nature of human agency and the essence of education in the age of technology; and the ethical, political, and environmental impact of our current techno-scientific customs. This volume also addresses the connection between Heidegger’s critique of technology and his involvement with the Nazis. Finally, and with contributions from a number of renowned Heidegger scholars, the original essays in this collection will be of great interest to students of Philosophy, Technology Studies, the History of Science, Critical Theory, Environmental Studies, Education, Sociology, and Political Theory.
Table of Contents:
Introduction: Heidegger’s Thinking Through Technology
Christopher Merwin, Aaron James Wendland, and Christos Hadjioannou
1. The Task of Thinking in a Technological Age
Mark A. Wrathall
2. Im-position: Heidegger’s Analysis of the Essence of Modern Technology
Daniel O. Dahlstrom
3. Heidegger’s Critique of Techno-science as a Critique of Husserl’s Reductive Method
Christos Hadjioannou
4. The Challenge of Heidegger’s Approach to Technology: A Phenomenological Reading
Steven Crowell
5. Letting Things Be for Themselves: Gelassenheit as Enabling Thinking
Tobias Keiling
6. The Question Concerning the Machine: Heidegger’s Technology Notebooks in the 1940s-50s
Andrew J. Mitchell
7. Heidegger’s Releasement from the Technological Will
Bret W. Davis
8. Heidegger’s New Beginning: History, Technology, and National Socialism
Aaron James Wendland
9. Technology, Ontotheology, Education
Iain Thomson
10. Heidegger, Habermas, Freedom, and Technology
Julian Young
11. How Pertinent is Heidegger’s Thinking for Deep Ecology?
Michael E. Zimmerman
12. Poetry and the Gods: From Gestell to Gelassenheit
Susanne Claxton
13. Letting Beings Be: An Ecofeminist Reading of Gestell, Gelassenheit, and Sustainability
Patricia Glazebrook
14. Machenshaft and the Audit Society: The Philosophy and Politics of the ‘Accessibility of Everything to Everyone’
Denis McManus
15. Heidegger vs. Kuhn: Does Science Think?
Aaron James Wendland
16. Quantum Theory as Technology
Taylor Carman
17. Naturalizing Gestell?
Rafael Winkler
About the Author :
Aaron James Wendland is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the Higher School of Economics. He completed his Ph.D. in Philosophy at Somerville College, Oxford, and he is the co-editor of Wittgenstein and Heidegger (Routledge, 2013).
Christopher Merwin is a Ph.D. candidate at Emory University. He is currently writing his dissertation on Heidegger’s later concept of time.
Christos Hadjioannou is an Associate Tutor at Sussex University, where he recently completed his Ph.D. thesis entitled The Emergence of Mood in Heidegger’s Phenomenology.
Review :
"This volume is a valuable resource that I highly recommend for those wanting to learn more about, and engage critically with, Heidegger's philosophy of technology." – David R. Cerbone in Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews
"This collection is extremely rich and serves as an superb guide to Heidegger’s writings on technology. The parallels it draws between Heidegger and other thinkers are illuminating, and scholarly innovation is achieved through the diverse approaches taken by the contributors. Briefly, this book is a must-have for those seeking to study Heidegger’s philosophy of technology." – Anne Boily in Canadian Philosophical Review
"Heidegger on Technology provides a tightly focussed array of Heidegger scholarship by many eminent figures in the field. As its title suggests, its concern is to provide a systematic and multifaceted critical evaluation of the ways in which Heidegger thinks about technology in his later writings" – Stephen Mulhall in the European Journal of Philosophy
"Heidegger on Technology contains instructive contributions that provide its readers with plenty of insights concerning Heidegger’s development of thought, whether it be its breaks or its continuities. Like any other companion it offers useful hints, much needed clarifications, even congenial interpretations" – Florian Arnold in Phenomenological Reviews
"Bringing together an array of Heideggerian scholars and incorporating the latest translated materials, this collection provides a fascinating account of Heidegger’s famous and influential analysis of technology." – Gavin Rae, Charles III University of Madrid, Spain
"Heidegger on Technology provides an abundance of insight into Heidegger's ideas and how these ideas are expresses and experienced in the contemporary world." -Glen Miller and Christopher Black in Sophia
