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| An Analysis of H?ffe's View on Technology |
| Shen Guoqin |
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Abstract Germany is the birthplace of technological philosophy. In the long historical process, the study of German technological philosophy has formed several directions and a number of famous technological philosophers have emerged. The Chinese academic community has carried out some research on them. H?ffe is an influential contemporary German philosopher. Chinese scholars have mainly studied his political philosophy and moral philosophy. So far, no one has studied his technological philosophy. This paper intends to fill this gap by analyzing H?ffe's technological philosophy with a combination of hermeneutics and comparative philosophy: Firstly, on the basis of studying the classic works of H?ffe's technological philosophy, the roots and appeals of his technological philosophy are examined and traced. Secondly, through a comparative investigation of H?ffe and other German technological philosophers, the theoretical origin and characteristics of H?ffe's technological philosophy are revealed. The core ideas of H?ffe's technological philosophy, condensed in this paper, are mainly reflected in the following aspects: 1. In his reflection on the concept of "technology", he agrees with the ideas of ancient Greek philosophers, especially German technological philosophers, that technology is supported by knowledge and aims for purpose. But being not limited to this, he focuses more on rethinking technology from the perspective of the fact that technology is an effective way of self-realization and self-transcendence. He emphasizes that technology enables people to constantly trace back to their former selves, release their potential, and ultimately achieve themselves. 2. Different from the synchronic study of technological ethics conducted by most German philosophers, H?ffe uses diachronic research methods to examine the relationship between technology and ethics, and proposes five stages of ethics in the development of science and technology. He points out that the development of science and technology requires a continuous dialogue with philosophical ethics to avoid splitting technological ethics from reality. At the same time, he stresses that only by continuously availing ourselves of value rationality so as to correct the instrumental rationality of technology can we ensure that technology effectively serves human progress as well as social and cultural development. This is also the value of technological philosophy. 3. H?ffe agrees with many German technological philosophers that the relationship between technology and human existence can be examined from the perspective of anthropology. In addition, he discusses this issue from the following four dimensions: First, the means of uncovering: technology is the place where the meaning of human existence can be clarified by itself. Second, the attribute of nature: the two attributes of nature, namely the attribute of lack and that of destruction, threaten human existence. Each relationship between man and nature is branded with technology. Third, the responsibility for justice in existence: humans should rely on technology at their own discretion to develop a capacity to sustain production. Fourth, the relationship between man and nature: people should take ethical principles as the guide and use technology rationally, ensuring that the other nature created by the means of technology lives in harmony with innate nature. 4. H?ffe divides luxury into two kinds: quantitative luxury and qualitative luxury. The former refers to squandering, while the latter is the high-quality life he admires. He emphasizes that there is a benign interaction between technology and luxury and advocates using technology to promote people's rational pursuit of luxury. H?ffe's technological philosophy provides a new source of thought and a theoretical basis for people to gain an understanding of the essential and eternal nature of technology.
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2018, Vol. 4 
