Technological Exercises

Abstract

The paper aims at setting the problem of the relation between technology, and the individual within the framework of Pierre Hadot’s idea of spiritual exercises. It compares two rivaling views of technology that originated in the Weimar Republic in order to outline a problematic field for examining the present position of the individual and technology. As the approaches of Weimar philosophers call for an actualization, the conception of Michel Foucault’s technologies of the self is brought forth. In the conclusion of the paper, the need for contradistinction within the very notion of technology is stressed, in an attempt to incorporate the topical issue into Hadot’s theory of philosophy as a way of life.

Keywords

• technology
• spiritual exercises
• weimar republic
• hadot
• foucault