In this paper, I consider Heidegger's call for the recapturing of radical techne or "the original Greek essence of science" because, he argues, it reminds us of our tragic impotence in the face of nature—that humans are in the throws of a fate beyond their determination. For Heidegger, our thinking, our building, our politics, and our art must be episphalês (precarious and prone to fall)—that is, its aim must not be to protect against or hide from, but to stand firm against the collapse and confusion of Western thinking and civilization.

Abstract.This paper is an effort to defend Heidegger's essentialist philosophy of technology against the charge of determinism. Rather than merely accepting its all-encompassing power, Heidegger provides three responses to the challenge of technology: 1) “aggressive essentialism” or the elimination of technology; 2) “moderate essentialism” or the reform of political, social and cultural institutions to better reflect the changes that technology brings; and 3) “passive essentialism” or the acceptance that we cannot act against or direct technology.Résumé.Dans cet article, l'auteur s'efforce de défendre la philosophie d'essentialisme de technologie proposée par Heidegger contre l'accusation de déterminisme. Plutôt que simplement accepter le pouvoir omniprésent de la technologie, Heidegger fournit trois réponses au défi qu'elle présente: 1) “ l'essentialisme agressif ”, ou l'élimination de la technologie; 2) “ l'essentialisme modéré ”, ou la réforme des institutions politiques, sociales et culturelles pour mieux refléter les changements apportés par la technologie; et 3) “l'essentialisme passif ”, ou l'acceptation du fait que nous ne pouvons ni agir contre la technologie ni la diriger.

Abstract. This essay identifies a problem with the phronesis revival. Some revivalists argue that phronesis can serve as a response to the homogenizing influence of technology, maintaining the particulars of individuals and communities. However, by their own argument, technology denies the conditions or “educational backdrop” that the development and practice of phronesis requires.Résumé. Cet essai identifie le problème de la renaissance du phronesis. Ces révisionnistes considèrent que le phronesis peut serviez de réponse à l'influence homogénéifiante de la technologie. Ils maintiennent la spécificité des individus et des communautés. Cependant, selon leur propre argumentation, la technologie nie les conditions ou la base éducationnelle nécessaires au développement et à la pratique du phronesis.

This paper describes the philosophy, structure and results of a course, Visual Sociology, in which students are taught sociology through filmmaking. Students develop a sociologically aware visual literacy from discussing documentary films that inquire into issues of social justice and inequality. After thinking through problems of sociological narrative and of research methods, students make their own films and write about their research process. Students address, in their films and papers, research issues such as a) the development of a research question, b) ethics of filming, c) problems of rapport with persons filmed, d) interviewing techniques and e) editing raw footage into a sociologically meaningful story. With the groundwork laid by this course, students have gone on to make sociological films for their capstone thesis. Student work is evaluated to discover the quality of sociological understanding resulting from experiential learning through filmmaking. REFLEXIVE STATEMENTI have taught the Visual Sociology class described in this article for the last six years. As an undergraduate, I studied documentary film with Leo Hurwitz. My first film, New Mown Fields, shot in 16mm without synchronized sound, showed French family farmers struggling to survive in a global economy dominated by corporate agriculture. The film contrasted two farms, one in the Pyrénées mountains, traditional and patriarchal, the other in the rolling hills of the Gers, modern yet modest, operated as much by the woman as the man of the farm. I have gone on to write about land conflicts in Africa and the United States and make films about social issues in the lives of rural people in the Philippines and India. I am currently working on a film about social change in Appalachia. My goal as a student and teacher of sociology has always been to combine sociology with documentary filmmaking.

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