Martin Heidegger :: essays papers

Martin Heidegger Note: The main work from which text was drawn is "The Question Concerning Technology". Martin Heidegger was a German philosopher, who developed existential phenomenology and has been widely regarded as the most original 20th-century philosopher. His works include complicated essays such as "An introduction to Metaphysics" and "The Question Concerning Technology." In his essay "The Question Concerning Technology," Heidegger attempts to create several intricate arguments regarding technology and the significance of information. One prominent theme in this essay is the idea and meaning of info rmation. Heidegger presents his thoughts by searching for the roots of the ideas behind information. He includes many references to German, Greek and Latin vocabulary to better explain his ideas. In order to fully understand the meaning and significance of informa tion, one must be educated as to the accurate definitions of some basic vocabulary regarding information. The first word that is significant to the idea of information that Heidegger explains to the reader is "episteme." Episteme in basic translation can be defined as "knowledge." "(Episteme is a term). for knowing in the widest sense. (it) means to be entirely at home with something, to understand and be expert in it. Such knowing provides an opening up. As an opening it up it is a revealing." This leads to the next expression, "alethia." Alethia is used by Heidegger the same way it was defined by the ancient Greeks; "revealing." This same word is translated by the Romans to "veritas." Again, "veritas" in English is used to mean "truth" which can be unde rstood as "correctness and representation." It is in this change, due to translation of ideas, that Heidegger notices some inconsistencies. Information is an often misused term in Heidegger's opinion. As previously noted, the translation from one language to another can often turn true definitions of words askew, and this can cause serious problems with larger concepts of technology and an id ea of "enframing" (gestell). Gestell is a German word whose direct translation means "enframing." The idea of enframing is also quite prevalent in this essay. "We now name that challenging claim which gathers man thither to order the self-revealing as standing-reserve: "ge-stell" (enframing). We dare to use this word in a sense that has been thoroughly unfamiliar up to now. According to ordinary usage, the word Gestell (frame) means some kind of apparatus, e.g., a bookrack. Gestell is also the name for a skeleton. And the employment of the word Gestell(enframing) that is now required of us seems equally eerie, not to speak of the arbitrariness with which words of a mature language are so