Thursday, October 19, 2006

Technology, Heidegger, Women

I was thinking of the housework that awaits me, and I found myself thinking that technology has been so crucial in women's liberation: whereas women's bodies once were the "machines" of society tasked to cook and clean and keep house, those bodies have now been replaced by, well, real machines: Roombas to vacuum, dishwashers to wash dishes, microwave ovens to cook ... all which have aided in the process of allowing women to realize themselves in the world.

As soon as I said that I realized I was saying something related to Heidegger, but I'm not sure in what way. It's been 10 years since I read "The Question Concerning Technology" closely, so I can't really remember what Heidegger said about technology except that there is something about it that's bad. ([Technology --> Enframing = Bad] --> That's about all I remember.)

For Arendt, technology may be good because it is what liberates people from poverty.

And for me, technology is such a wondrous thing, as long as people keep it in perspective.

So I may be onto something here, but I won't know for sure until I, well, read up on Heidegger again.

Maybe I can write about how Heidegger is coming from a very masculinist (and therefore very Bad, hahaha!) perspective. That would be cool. Maybe in my old age (hahaha!) I will finally find a feminine voice in my philosophizing.

Okay, Rowie, stop counting chickens.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi well I just finished reading about Heidegger and technology. It seem's Heideggar was concerned that human beings will lose the essence of what it is to be human in our modern technological mode of being, which views humans and all other things as resources. Now since alot of people use dish washers ( I still wash by hand and I am a man) maybe we lose something that is essential to what it means to be a human being.