Borgmann’s Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life :: Philosophy Religion Essays

Borgmann’s Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate Borgmann’s theory of focal things in application to Tai Chi, as well as propose the opposition to it with an exercise machine as a device in the context of Borgmann’s Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life. In addition, I will try to argue that the resolution to the bifurcation between things and devices is a specific kind of equilibrium. First, Tai Chi, the old Chinese art that is a culmination of martial art and a form of exercise for both body and mind, fits into Borgmann’s definition of a focal thing. He states that focal things are â€Å"inconspicuous and humble,† â€Å"scattered and of yesterday,† and they â€Å"flourish at the margins of public attention,† (199). Tai Chi is humble, in that its chief focus is not self-defense, but a fortification of the body’s general well-being. It is inconspicuous because it is not something that people boast about, and it is not something which is as widely known of; while at the same time being something which is practiced by many, in small groups, or in privacy, or at hours during which the technological world is quiet. Thus, it is also scattered, as it is practiced by people al lover the world, and in the most mundane of times and places. Tai Chi is of yesterday, as it is an art which has its origins hundreds of years ago, and only t hose who have come to a maturity of thought within them see the true value in it and have the patience to do it. The practice is not glamorized by the entertainment industry, and is not a high point of controversial debate. It is not in the focus of the media, and so it is at the margins of public attention. Also, Borgmann goes further to say that things â€Å"neither rival nor deny technology,† and that they â€Å"attain a new splendor in today’s technological context,† (200). So too, the art of Tai Chi does not impose a new system of rules for technology to function under, and so does not rival it. It has no statement to the negativity of technology, in which it does not deny it. The practice â€Å"attains a new splendor in today’s technological context,† in that it provides respite from a technologically stressful existence, and promotes one’s well-being (200).