Where Technology Meets Islam: Towards an Islamic Perspective on Technology
Technology is a pervasive phenomenon in our surroundings. Today, we rarely experience the natural world and our relationship with the world is most often technologically mediated. The long-standing view in the Islamic world toward technology seems to be taking it as an innocent tool which carries on...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Management and Technology
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.umt.edu.pk/index.php/JITC/article/view/2533 |
| _version_ | 1811290899810877440 |
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| author | Ehsan Arzroomchilar Maryam Olamaiekopaie |
| author_facet | Ehsan Arzroomchilar Maryam Olamaiekopaie |
| author_sort | Ehsan Arzroomchilar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Technology is a pervasive phenomenon in our surroundings. Today, we rarely experience the natural world and our relationship with the world is most often technologically mediated. The long-standing view in the Islamic world toward technology seems to be taking it as an innocent tool which carries only instrumental value. If so, there would not arise any moral question concerning technology per se. Rather, everything would concern with the way it is used by individuals. This instrumentalist approach, however, is notoriously premature. Technology inherently is value-laden and accordingly calls for philosophical as well as moral evaluation. In this article, we will suggest a context for assessing technology from an Islamic point of view. To that purpose, we will unpack Heidegger’s account of technology to bring into relief an enduring problem associated with modern technology, the problem of Gestell. Our source of inspiration to accommodate Heidegger’s concern is the work of Tabātabā’i, the contemporary Muslim thinker, on theory of iʿtibārīat and also his contribution to the virtue ethics. In the end we will find that, according to Tabātabā’i, the problem of technology is rooted in deviation from the golden mean, in the wake of secularization of the world in the modern era.
Keywords: Heidegger, Islamic Technology, Iʿtibārīat, Tabātabā'i, Technology, Virtue Ethics
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| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T04:21:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6b7595580bf04045ac3020cf1cd8c64a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-0943 2520-0313 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T04:21:18Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | University of Management and Technology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization |
| spelling | doaj.art-6b7595580bf04045ac3020cf1cd8c64a2022-12-22T03:02:45ZengUniversity of Management and TechnologyJournal of Islamic Thought and Civilization2075-09432520-03132022-11-0112210.32350/jitc.122.02Where Technology Meets Islam: Towards an Islamic Perspective on TechnologyEhsan Arzroomchilar0Maryam Olamaiekopaie1University of South Bohemia, Czech RepublicUniversity of South Bohemia, Czech RepublicTechnology is a pervasive phenomenon in our surroundings. Today, we rarely experience the natural world and our relationship with the world is most often technologically mediated. The long-standing view in the Islamic world toward technology seems to be taking it as an innocent tool which carries only instrumental value. If so, there would not arise any moral question concerning technology per se. Rather, everything would concern with the way it is used by individuals. This instrumentalist approach, however, is notoriously premature. Technology inherently is value-laden and accordingly calls for philosophical as well as moral evaluation. In this article, we will suggest a context for assessing technology from an Islamic point of view. To that purpose, we will unpack Heidegger’s account of technology to bring into relief an enduring problem associated with modern technology, the problem of Gestell. Our source of inspiration to accommodate Heidegger’s concern is the work of Tabātabā’i, the contemporary Muslim thinker, on theory of iʿtibārīat and also his contribution to the virtue ethics. In the end we will find that, according to Tabātabā’i, the problem of technology is rooted in deviation from the golden mean, in the wake of secularization of the world in the modern era. Keywords: Heidegger, Islamic Technology, Iʿtibārīat, Tabātabā'i, Technology, Virtue Ethics https://journals.umt.edu.pk/index.php/JITC/article/view/2533virtue |
| spellingShingle | Ehsan Arzroomchilar Maryam Olamaiekopaie Where Technology Meets Islam: Towards an Islamic Perspective on Technology Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization virtue |
| title | Where Technology Meets Islam: Towards an Islamic Perspective on Technology |
| title_full | Where Technology Meets Islam: Towards an Islamic Perspective on Technology |
| title_fullStr | Where Technology Meets Islam: Towards an Islamic Perspective on Technology |
| title_full_unstemmed | Where Technology Meets Islam: Towards an Islamic Perspective on Technology |
| title_short | Where Technology Meets Islam: Towards an Islamic Perspective on Technology |
| title_sort | where technology meets islam towards an islamic perspective on technology |
| topic | virtue |
| url | https://journals.umt.edu.pk/index.php/JITC/article/view/2533 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ehsanarzroomchilar wheretechnologymeetsislamtowardsanislamicperspectiveontechnology AT maryamolamaiekopaie wheretechnologymeetsislamtowardsanislamicperspectiveontechnology |