BELMONTE, Bianca Lou F.

MRR 4
GED104 / A22 6/17/19

The article “The Question Concerning Technology” immediately opens with its
purpose that it aims to discuss the essence of technology from an inward perspective
with respect to technology. In doing so, I learned that the instrumental definition of
technology differs from its essence. Heidegger reports that technology in meaning is the
means to an end for humans. This definition creates the foundation of technology’s
instrumental meaning. But then, we go back to the opening fact that the definition is not
its essence. So, the article continues on to explain that in essence, technology is about
revealing something out of a material. And from that thought, the reading lists the 2
types of revealing in technology. Heidegger makes an in-depth comparison of the
significant concepts I’ve learned in this reading, the bringing-forth and challenging-forth
revealing. First discussed was bringing-forth. This type of revealing makes use of the 4
causalities to bring forth the existing essence of the material in question. Here he
explains causa materialis, causa formalis, causa finalis, causa efficiens as 4 different
yet unified causes behind revealing. Causa materialis refers to what substance the
material is made out of. Fomalis is what it became to be. While finalis is the bounds of
what it is. Then efficiens is the last causality that brings forth the 3 co-responsible
causalities into something of essence. He makes use of a silver chalice as an example
to explain their connection. From my own understanding, bringing-forth is simply the
uncovering of the material’s essence in a different form. No part of its whole essence
was reduced. It was merely transforming with respect to what it can be that it was
concealing. While that was established, Heidegger explains the opposite type of
revealing which was challenging-forth. He emphasizes that modern technology has
been following this essence of technology. He discusses that challenging-forth is
defined by the word enframing. It is the act of unlocking, transformation, storage,
transmission and distribution of the material sought. I didn’t quite understand what
enframing was but all I know was it can be dangerous due to the fact that it views
sought materials as resources with no intrinsic essence other than to serve humanity.

Throughout the reading, I didn’t grasp the whole concept of enframing and
people ordering challenging-forth. I also didn’t comprehend the example regarding
standing reserve. I do not understand why it seems so bad store resources like
BELMONTE, Bianca Lou F. MRR 4
GED104 / A22 6/17/19
explained in The Rhine dam. What is the difference of the windmill and a hydropower
plant when both still respect the essence of water but the only difference of hydropower
plants was it stored energy? Moving on, if challenging-forth, the revealing we follow
through today is wrong, I want to know how do we apply the bringing-forth reveal to our
time and technology in the present?

Reading through all of that, I wanted to understand why there was a need to
open and discuss the essence of technology, but then I realized that to correctly use
technology, we must understand that its essence of revealing has two types. I learned
that we ought to remind ourselves that everything has intrinsic essence and no
technological development should erase that.