Heidegger and Cybernetic

The following is an attempt to elucidate an often overlooked yet fundamental aspect of Martin Heidegger's (1889-1976) philosophy of technology---his thoughts concerning cybernetics. Cybernetics is an interdisciplinary field comprised of the theory of control, communication, and organization in self-regulating systems. Many of the theoretical frameworks upon which general systems theory is built have their origins in cybernetic research, and the two fields are so closely related that one term is often used as a synonym for another. In order to understand the role of cybernetics in Heidegger's philosophy of technology I will attempt to explain a thesis that he began repeating towards the end of his career---that cybernetics has replaced philosophy in Western civilization. This proposition will have to be understood in the context of Heidegger's philosophy of technology generally. Once a basis for understanding what Heidegger means by saying that cybernetics has replaced philosophy has been established it will then be possible to turn to the wider Heideggerian corpus in order to assess the extent of Heidegger's engagement with cybernetics. It will be established that the role of cybernetics in the end of philosophy and the onward march of technology has to be considered of major importance for Heidegger. It will further be demonstrated that Heidegger was engaging with this new science on its own terms by reading his interpretation of cybernetics alongside the texts of the American mathematician and founder of cybernetics Norbert Wiener (1894--1964). It is my hope that in the end I shall have established that Martin Heidegger's philosophy of technology constitutes a serious and still relevant engagement with the bleeding edge techno-scientific developments of his day (which is not far removed from our own, and indeed, anticipates many of our contemporary problems with technology). The ultimate goal of this project is to establish that an understanding of Heidegger's confrontation with cybernetics is critical for a thorough engagement with his philosophy of technology, and that his concerns have only become more prescient as time has passed.