Marcuse, Benjamin and Heidegger: three reflections on the phenomenon of modern technique and its social implications

Abstract

The question of technique and its possible effects and implications in contemporary societies is a recurring theme explored by 20th-century philosophers. This phenomenon was addressed in different ways by those who tried to understand the rhythm of the societies in that period. We are particularly interested in discussing the analysis of three authors who, in our opinion, have reflected on the question of modern technique along with other key social and cultural aspects for a deeper understanding on the matter. On one hand, Herbert Marcuse refers to technological advances within the framework of a critical diagnosis of advanced capitalist societies with an interest in the possibility of transforming them. Walter Benjamin, on the other hand, reflects on technical progress in relation to its possibilities in the aesthetic field: the technical reproducibility of works of art and, specifically, the political meaning of this phenomenon along with its symptomatic nature of the social process in general. Finally, Martin Heidegger also approaches the question of modern technique and some of its implications, but from another point of view: within the framework of a reflection on the history of the interpretation of being or, better, of metaphysics. We are interested in trying to find a connection among the analysis of these thinkers, and, perhaps, finding and articulating some points of agreement or, also, disagreement.