The Philosophy of Martin Heidegger: Applied to the Systemised Self – Part 26, Masters Series

Abstract

This essay examines whether Heidegger’s philosophy clarifies how algorithmic assistance can become a condition of self-understanding rather than merely a useful instrument. It first introduces Dasein, being-in-the-world, care, everyday conformity, and authenticity, emphasizing that authenticity means owning situated possibilities (personal responsibility), not recovering an isolated, technologically untouched self. The discussion then turns to modern technology as enframing: a mode of revealing through which beings appear principally as resources available for ordering. Applied cautiously to digital mediation, this raises the possibility that people increasingly encounter themselves through predictions, profiles, and optimization targets. A fictional narrative follows an AI assistant gradually becoming the default interpreter of choices, relationships, and aspirations. The Systemised Self and Hollow Absolute provide a conceptual and untested interpretive framework, while the Algorithmic Alienation Index (AAI) remains a non-operational, unvalidated research proposal and mathematical heuristic. Contemporary evidence constrains specific claims about mediation and agency; Calhoun’s behavioural sink serves only as a limited analogy. The essay also critically examines criticisms of Heidegger and asks whether his account sufficiently addresses institutions and power. It concludes by considering releasement, meditative thinking, and alternative practices as possible responses in contemporary digital life, without treating technological withdrawal as necessary or philosophical interpretation as empirical proof.

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