Ways of Being and Ways of Knowing: Heidegger's The Question Concerning Technology and Knowledge Organization

Abstract

This paper examines some of the problems within the field of knowledge organization that arise from its roots within the Western philosophical tradition, specifically in relation to the technological view of the world as expressed by Martin Heidegger's The Question Concerning Technology. It attempts not only to outline the weaknesses of this worldview, but also to provide a path towards expansion and inclusion of a larger variety of worldviews. Given the importance of ontology within Heidegger's philosophy, this paper considers epistemology as rooted in ontology, and attempts to center knowledge organization within ontology. The goal is the development of a human-centered approach to knowledge organization which encompasses the creator and the world of the creator as well as the user and the world of the user, and builds upon community and connections between them. The goal of this approach is to arrive at a philosophy of knowledge organization that can successfully interact with knowledge expressed in a wide variety of forms (tools and works of art in addition to verbal treatises) and from a variety of cultures and socio-economic groups.