Heidegger On Traditional Language And Technological Language :: Heidegger Language Languages Essays

Heidegger On Traditional Language And Technological Language ABSTRACT: On July 18, 1962, Martin Heidegger delivered a lecture entitled Traditional Language and Technological Language in which he argues that the opposition between these two languages concerns our very essence. I examine the nature of this opposition by developing his argument within his particular context and in the general light of his reflections on language. In different sections on technology and language, I summarize much of what he had said in previous writings on the topic (viz., "Die Frage nach der Technik" and "Der Weg zur Sprache"), including his preliminary comments contrasting instruction with teaching, and characterizing this reflection in terms of its uselessness. The central issue connecting these seemingly varying themes is the status of education in our modern technological age and, more specifically, of instruction in the mother tongue. Heidegger’s concern for the status of instruction in the mother tongue is, as we will see later, directly connected to his distinction between the two forms of language. On July 18, 1962, Martin Heidegger delivered a lecture entitled ÃÅ"berlieferte Sprache und Technische Sprache (1) (Traditional Language and Technological Language) in which he argues that the opposition between these languages concerns our very essence. In this paper I examine the nature of this opposition by developing his argument in this particular context and in the general light of his reflections on language. Addressed to science teachers in a vocational school, Heidegger's lecture offers some relatively uncomplicated formulations of theses he had already developed mainly in "Die Frage nach der Technik" (2) and "Der Weg zur Sprache." (3) There are two main sections, one on technology, the other on language, which summarize much of what he had said in those previous writings. There is, however, a preliminary comment in which he contrasts instruction with teaching, and an introductory section in which he characterizes his reflection in terms of its uselessness. The issue connecting these seemingly varying themes here is the status of education in our modern technological age and, more specifically, of instruction in the mother tongue. Heidegger's concern for the status of instruction in the mother tongue is, as we will later see, directly connected to his distinction between the two forms of language. Speaking thus to his particular audience, Heidegger claims he is not instructing but teaching them in the sense of letting-learn, where learning comprises bringing our life into the correspondence with what grants itself to us in its essence.