Ziarek's claim concerning a more poetic thought appearing in the later Heidegger is echoed by Janet Donohoe. In her essay The Place of Tradition: Heidegger and Benjamin on Technology and Art she argues that notwithstanding the many differences between Heidegger and Benjamin, they share a commitment to a thinking which returns them to a more original poiesis at the root of the philosophical tradition. Both react to a crisis in the European tradition of thought and both see the expression of (...) this crisis in modem technological society. This essay, then, focuses on the paradoxical character of the tradition as elaborated in their respective texts, in order to understand how they can see an artistic or poetic thinking as an alternative to the technological paradigm of our present societies. The reflection on these topics brings out the thinking of a notion of place as central to both Heidegger's and Benjamin's critique of calculative rationality. (shrink)

ABSTRACT While there is a sense in which technological advancements enhance our experience of the world, there is also a sense in which technology obscures the world. One such instance of technology’s ability to obscure the world is the way in which makes works of art so readily accessible. While in many ways the accessibility and democratisation of music offered by digital streaming, for example, is seen to be convenient, we may also notice how this accessibility can efface the significance (...) of the musical work – works that were once only encountered in the concert hall as “works of art” now also function as background music while we drive our cars, or do the dishes, for instance. In this paper, I argue that improvisation, such as that which is demonstrated by improvising musicians, offers us a “way in” to experience music as works of art, qua art, in the age of technology. (shrink)