Evaluation of Approaches to Technique in the Context of War and Military Profession
Niyazi Kayahan BoyacıThis study aims to discuss various approaches to technique using technical and political philosophy concepts, and to evaluate these approaches concerning war and the military profession. It is argued that establishing a strategy with the appropriate political goals and war tools cannot be established without first asking how and by whom technique is used, and how the worlds created by technique make the subject dependent on technique. The “pharmakon” metaphor was used to suggest that the objects humans create and bring into being can change pre-existing social relations and that any technique can have beneficial and destructive effects. The transformation of transhumanism, which re-discusses what it means to be human through technological creation, into an ideology that legitimizes domination through technique has been criticized. Moreover, the goals of current wars have been assessed in this context. Aside from the fact that each new technique changes the character of war, it has been attempted to convey that new techniques such as automation and artificial intelligence make the fighting subject dependent on itself and endanger its subjectivity by associating it with political decision-makers and the military profession.
Tekniğe Dair Yaklaşımların Savaş ve Askerlik Mesleği Bağlamında Değerlendirilmesi
Niyazi Kayahan BoyacıTekniğe dair yaklaşımları teknik ve politik felsefenin kavram setleriyle tartışıp bu yaklaşımları savaş ve askerlik mesleğiyle birlikte değerlendirmek bu çalışmanın amacıdır. Tekniğin kimin tarafından nasıl ele alındığına ve teknikle oluşturulan dünyaların özneyi tekniğe ne kadar bağımlı kıldığına dair sorgulamalar yapılmadan savaş adına doğru politik amaç ve araçlara sahip bir stratejinin kurulamayacağı bir argüman olarak sunulmuştur. İnsanın kendi yarattığı, varlığa getirdiği nesnelerin önceden var olan toplumsal ilişkileri değiştirebileceği, herhangi bir tekniğin faydalı olduğu kadar bozucu etkilerinin de olabileceği “farmakon” metaforu üzerinden aktarılmış ve kavramsal çerçeve oluşturulmak istenmiştir. İnsanın ne olduğunu teknik yaratım üzerinden yeniden tartışan transhümanizm akımının teknik ile tahakkümü meşru kılacak bir ideolojiye dönüşmesi eleştirilmiş ve güncel savaşların amaçları bu bağlamda değerlendirilmiştir. Her yeni tekniğin savaşın karakterini sürekli değiştirmesinin yanı sıra otomasyon ve yapay zekâ gibi yeni tekniklerin savaşan özneyi de kendisine bağımlı hale getirerek onun bir özne oluşunu tehlikeye atması, politik karar alıcıyla ve askerlik mesleğiyle ilişkilendirilerek aktarılmaya çalışılmıştır.
Every technique attempts to create a world that serves the creator’s purpose. This Heidegger viewpoint on what technique is a fact that should be considered by those who wage war in terms of the technique required for the conduct of war. Based on this premise, this study aims.
Questioning the purposes of today’s various techniques, which can be seen to determine not only the current world system, but also what a human being is, is a complex process. Instead of conducting this investigation one by one, the metaphor of “pharmakon” aids in understanding how technique determines humanity. In its most basic form, pharmakon refers to both medicine and poison. A philosophical discussion of technique is made through the antagonism of something being both medicine and poison. This study used the concept in question to reveal approaches to technique and spark discussion.
Another technique-related concept discussed in the study is “transhumanism.” As in classical humanism, the first uses of this concept show that technical developments that could affect human biology were discussed to re-express what a human being is. Transhumanism is explained as a philosophical movement in this study, but the political aspect is determined by how this philosophy’s ideals are applied.
The concept of transhumanism was chosen for two reasons. The first is to reveal the ideological meanings of this concept today and to discuss the goals of today’s wars using political philosophy concepts. The second reason for selecting it is to highlight the harmful, disruptive, or ambiguous effects of automation and artificial intelligence, which are aspects of transhumanism and have become decisive in today’s wars, on political decision-makers and military personnel.
The goal of the first section was to establish a theoretical framework by explaining the concept of pharmakon. Meanwhile, the second section, which discusses transhumanism, discusses the approaches to technique using the concept of pharmakon and some other concepts offered by political philosophy, and an attempt is made to determine some of the purposes of today’s wars, based on the use of technique as a tool of dominance over the other subject. The use of technique as a tool in war is touched on in the final two chapters, focusing on how technique-intensive tools of war change relationships in the context of strategy, war, and society.
According to the purpose and conceptual framework of the study, the following two research questions; “If all techniques are pharmakology, what are the pharmakological effects of the technologies developed in the name of war?” How do all techniques, particularly those developed for warfare, poison the relationship between war and society?
In wars, actors develop tools to achieve their political goals. This effort transforms war into a dynamic, ever-changing phenomenon. In this case, the warring actor must constantly develop tools for its own political purposes, determine the other’s political purposes and the context of the technical war tools created in response, and use this determination in the name of strategy. The study argues that a strategy with the right political goals and tools for war cannot be established without asking who handles the technique and how the worlds created make the subject dependent on the technique.
The main claim of transhumanist philosophy is that all human struggles can be evaluated technically, and that solutions will come with technique, so that there will be no struggle that humans cannot overcome. In line with this materialist viewpoint, transhumanism accepts that the technically “enhanced” human species is both useful and inevitable. Its origins can be traced back to classical humanism and Enlightenment thought, which argued that rational humans can transcend the fundamental and insurmountable limits of creation. Transhumanism is the concept of “faith in rationality” in Enlightenment thought, which can also be seen as the current thought system and political movement.
The goal of war is political, and since today’s authority uses technique as a tool of dominance and creates a political economy, the goal of war through technique is debatable. The study discusses the transformation of the idea of transhumanism, which re-discusses what a human being is through technological creation, into an ideology that legitimizes domination through technology, and shows that inequality between world societies is one of the causes of today’s wars.
Because a system of dominance through technique has been created today, the purpose of war can be thought of in terms of technique. This situation can be viewed as a historical and dynamic process. After all, historical political orders were not as technically sophisticated as modern ones. However, the weapon of war has always been about technique. In this context, if one considers the pharmakological effects of each new technique, new techniques such as automation and artificial intelligence not only constantly change the character of war, but also endanger the status of the warring subject as a subject by making it dependent on itself. The study attempted to convey this situation by associating it with political decision-makers and the military profession, and it was demonstrated with historical examples how techniques such as automation and artificial intelligence made the subject of war dependent on itself.
It is argued that a strategy in the name of war cannot be established without first asking how the technique is handled by whom, and how the worlds created with the technique make the subject dependent on the technology. In today’s world, as demonstrated in the section of the study on transhumanism, the purpose of wars appears to be to oppose the inequality created by an authority that provides domination through technique, and thus the warring subject must develop its own technical tools to that end. Indeed, the opposite is true for the authority that achieves dominance through technique; strategy is a phenomenon developed on the other party’s behalf.
