Week 4: Unit Learning Outcomes (ULO): At the end of the unit, you are expecting

Metalanguage
The essential terms below are operationally defined for you better understandand to
demonstrate ULOa. You will encounter these as we go through this chapter.

Alethea – unhidden or disclosure; the state of not being hidden; the stateof being evident." It
also means factuality or reality

Poiesis – is defined as bringing forth.

Techne – means skill, art, or craft.

Revealing - means that technological things have their novel kind ofpresence, endurance, and
connections among parts andwholes. They have their way of presenting themselves and
theworld in which they operate.

Enframing – means that way of revealing which holds sway in the essence ofmodern
technology and is itself nothing technological.

Piety – is obedience and submission, described as a comprehensiveattempt to interrogate the

idea of technology to understand theessence of the thing rather than merely following it as
aninstrument or a means.

Calculative thinking - is the more special kind of human thought, in which peoplegather
information and put it together to put it to some specific use.

Meditative thinking - involves something much more profound than practicalcalculation, and
it takes much more effort. Reflective thinking tells us why we shoulddo something, beyond the
simple calculative process of actually doing it.

Essential Knowledge
The progress or development of human civilizations throughout history mirrorsthe development
of science and technology. Us, both the bearer and beneficiary ofscience and technology,
flourishes and finds meaning the builders. In this topic, weare going to understand the person's
way of flourishing technology to pursuit havinga good life. I may unconsciously acquire,
consume, or even destroy what the worldhas to offer.

Martin Heidegger (a German Philosopher) - wrote a book "The Question ofTechnology,"

discusses and urges us to question about the invention of technologyand see beyond people's
shared understanding of it.
TECHNOLOGY AS A MODE OF REVEALING

Martin Heidegger urged people to envision technology as a mode of revealingas it shows so

much more about a human person and the world. By consideringtechnology as a mode of
explaining, then truth is brought forth since technology is away of bringing forth, a making-of
something. The 'true' entails so much meaningand significance. For instance, knowing the truth
about the Earth is weepingrevealed from the information and data taken by modern devices.
The fact thatuncovered will make something meaningful and significant than the practical
orsuperficial use of technology.

TECHNOLOGY AS POIESIS: APPLICABLE TO MODERN TECHNOLOGY?

Heidegger characterizes modern technology as a challenging forth since it isvery aggressive in

its activity. As defined poiesis as bringing forth. Advancedtechnology challenges the nature and
demands of its resources, which, most of thetime, is forcibly extracted for human consumption
and storage 'setting upon' of theland. Examples of these are mining. It removes minerals from
the Earth andforcefully assigns the property as means to fulfill the never-ending demands
ofpeople, information at our fingertips, harvested foods even out of season, gravitydefied to fly
off space, etc. It is not working anymore with the rhythms of naturebecause we have learned to
control it. Heidegger described modern technology asthe age of switches, standing reserve, and
stockpiling for its own sake. It manifestsmany aspects of life, like mechanization and digitization
of individual. For this,agriculture and communication and transportation would compromise each
other

QUESTIONING AS PIETY OF THOUGHT

Addressing what technology has brought forth, one can be submissive orassertive to what
his/her thoughts and reflections elicit. Thinking brings forth insightsthat the mind has not yet fully
understood or developed. It is evoked by questioninguntil understanding or answers had met. It
builds the way towards knowing the truthof who he/she is as a being.Questioning serves as the
loyalty of thought because we keep asking out ofcuriosity, we keep on searching and
discovering in search for the meaning of truth.

ENFRAMING: It is the way of Revealing In Modern Technology

The way of revealing (disclosure) in modern technology is an enframing. Insimpler terms, it is as

if nature is put in a box or frame so that it can be betterunderstood and controlled according to
the desire of people. Enframing is the modein which everything comes into the open and makes
sense for us because peoplewant security, even if the ordering in enframing is violent. Thus, we
used everyresource on the planet as a standing reserve, put an order by extracting,
stockpiling,and whatever means beneficial to humans. These things are part of
moderntechnology that has to be free through enframing.

Heidegger distinguished between two types of thinking:

Calculative thinking – it is one order and puts a system to nature to be betterunderstood and
controlled. It is the more special kind of human thought, in whichpeople gather information and
put it together to put it to some specific use.

Example of calculative thinking: Whenever a professor displays a task, everyone will get their
smartphones,click the camera button, and take photographs. We perceive nature as seeing
andlistening technically by saving ourselves a picture of instructions so that if we
misssomething, which is unnecessary, we can easily see and review what is in it. Wetake in
everything most quickly and cheaply as possible.

Meditative thinking - allows nature to reveal itself to him/her without forcing it;it helps us to
understand our life's meaning, placing significance on the individual rather than the collective. It
tells us why we should do or should not do a thing, beyond the simple calculative process of
actually doing it.

Example of meditative thinking :Instead of doing the example written above (calculative
thinking), one click ofa camera is indeed making things useful. However, the negative side is
that we oversee the importance of absorbing what is being displayed and discussed. People in
the past invented the camera because they see the importance of what they are seeing.

Hence, the human person has the capacity for both calculative thinking and meditative thinking
and would do well in synergy. However, people want to control alot of things but sometimes
afraid of unpredictability. Therefore, there is a collaboration between calculative thinking and
meditative thinking.

HUMAN PERSON SWALLOWED BY TECHNOLOGY Example: They are always plugged

online and no longer have the capacity for authentic personal encounters (dependent on
gadgets/social media);Cannot let go of the conveniences and profits brought about by
processes and industries that pollute (biochemical) the environment and cause climate change,
then technology has consumed our humanity Heidegger stated that the essence of technology
is not found in the instrumentality and function of machines constructed, but in the significance
of such technology unfolds.

ART AS A WAY OUT OF ENFRAMING

We should look at nature as an art, and we should not customize it to fit in ourneeds. Instead,
we should use a sustainable technology that does not harm theenvironment and keep it as it is.
Like a windmill, it uses wind but not alters it. Withart, we are better able to see the poetic in
reality

Aristotle’s conception of the four causes:

a. Causa materialis– the material, the matter out of which, for example, asilver chalice
b. Causa formalis – the form, the shape into which the material enters
c. Causa finalis – the end, for example, the sacrificial rite about which thechalice required
is determined by its form and matter
d. Causa efficiens – refers in which brings about the effect that is finished,actual chalice