There is much contemporary talk of a creating a "free relationship" to technology. But all such talk is, we think, indebted to this essay, published in 1954. In the opening paragraph, Heidegger says that "We shall be questioning concerning technology," and in so doing we should like to prepare a free relationship to it. The relationship will be free if it opens our human existence to the essence of technology." This is all very mysterious. What does it mean to "open" our "human existence" to the "essence" of technology? These are urgent questions in their own right, we think, but especially urgent for educators who want their classrooms to be spaces of free and open inquiry, regardless of the role technology plays in them. This essay, then, will inaugurate the new series for this academic year, prompting us to ask unsettling questions about our work as educators and what we really mean when we speak of a "free relationship" to the technology that dominates nearly every moment of our lives. It is a dense and mysterious essay, filled with strange neologisms. But it has in view the deepest questions about the human being's relationship to technology and it demands our close attention.

Teachers joining us for our online seminar will discuss the text in a small, interactive class led by St. John’s faculty. The seminar will be followed by a discussion about ways in which what has been learned and discussed might be integrated into your own classrooms.