Herbert Marcuse's notion of Technology and its importance for the contemporary Filipino family

The study investigates Marcuse’s philosophy of technology and its importance for the contemporary Filipino family. It starts with a comprehensive discussion on the philosopher’s notion of technology via his critical theory of society mostly found in his works One-Dimensional Man and “Some Social Implications of Modern Technology.” His other works such as the Essay on Liberation, Eros and Civilization, and Aggressiveness in Advance Industrialized Society are also consulted for further clarifications. The study analyzes the contemporary Filipino family by discussing some major issues confronting it and presents the negative and positive effects of technology. It also emphasizes the importance of Marcuse’s notion of technology for the contemporary Filipino family.
Marcuse conceives technology both as a tool for domination and for emancipation. He claims that technology tends to become totalitarian at the outset of capitalism. This means that it becomes a new form of social control and domination the moment it is organized in the interest of extracting profit. Thus, in the capitalist society, technology shows its totalitarian character. Despite his claim that “technological rationality” has successfully dominated human beings, he views that this rationality also liberates and enriches human life. Thus, for Marcuse, technology is also a tool for emancipation.
The study also shows that the emergence of working wives, urban migration and the growing numbers of Filipino overseas contract workers, increasing number of working children, marital infidelity and marriage dissolution, pre-marital sex, teen-age pregnancies and early marriages, and disappearance of Filipino core values are partly caused by the advancement in technology. Since these issues facilitate confusion, conflict and disorganization in the contemporary Filipino family, technology as a tool for domination is hostile to the integrity of the Filipino family. Nevertheless, the same technology also liberates humanity from material poverty and excessive toil. It is also very important to the Filipino family as it promotes progress and development. Thus, Marcuse’s notion of technology is important for the contemporary Filipino family.