The Self, Technology and the Order of Things: In Dialogue with Heidegger, Ellul, Foucault and Taylor

The purpose of this work is to invite reflection on questions of human identity and agency at a time of rapidly/revolutionary changing technological revolution. Falling within the field of applied moral philosophy, I will tackle questions as simple (or as complicated?) as ‘Who am I? What is the nature of the technological invasion I face every day? How do I relate to it? Where do I go for meaning? Is there any meaning left at all? Is there a center that holds? How/where do I find it?’ In other words, I will in fact ask the old question of our relationship with technology. Hence, my main thesis is that technology without a proper understanding of an order of life is a constant threat to life itself. To support my claim, I will rather briefly scan over four influential thinkers who dealt with the particular topics of the complicated relationship between technology and the self. Chronologically they are somehow grouped two by two: Heidegger and Jacque Ellul in the earlier part of the twentieth century and Michael Foucault and Charles Taylor more towards our recent days. Rather than striving to offer a final answer, my hope is that I will at least identify some more questions leading to a healthier, more consonant environment in which our shattered selves could find a meaningful space.