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Draft:Meta-Technics

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Meta-technics is an ontological and phenomenological theory within the field of the philosophy of technology. It analyzes and projects the becoming of the human being based on their relationship with technology and the shift in their technical rationality—specifically through the implications of the artificial modification of their senses and the resulting changes in language. It was proposed by the philosopher Ernesto Mayz Vallenilla and published in 1990 in his work Fundamentos de la meta-técnica[1] [The Foundations of Meta-technics], and has been expanded upon by other researchers since 1993. Meta-technics represents a contribution to the philosophy of technics and technology, with implications for metaphysics, the theory of language, anthropology, cybernetics, and transhumanism.

History and Background

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In 1953, after completing postgraduate studies at the University of Freiburg (where Martin Heidegger was among his professors[2]) and returning to Caracas, Mayz Vallenilla began writing several essays and books on the question of technology and its role in the 20th century and the future. These ideas, developed over the course of 40 years, were published or presented in lectures within the context of a Venezuela that had assumed the leadership of modernity in Latin America.

Essays such as Del hombre y su alienación[3] [On Man and His Alienation] (1966), Técnica y humanismo[4] [Technics and Humanism] (1972), Esbozo de una crítica de la razón técnica[5] [Outline of a Critique of Technical Reason] (1974), El dominio del poder[6] [The Domain of Power] (1982), and Ratio Technica[7] (1983) were written during the time he founded the Simón Bolívar University and served as its rector —an institution with a strong techno-scientific orientation. At the same time, during these decades, electronics developed significantly as a discipline and profession, and personal computers emerged, becoming more accessible to the general public. Mayz Vallenilla observed the appearance of new technological instruments such as radar, sonar, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positron emission tomography (PET), among others, which he interpreted as synesthetic extensions of the human senses[8]. Finally, he published Fundamentos de la meta-técnica (1990) —a work that, according to Corina Yoris Villasana, condenses his most mature and original reflections[9], and where he formally posits the meta-technical theory. The work was translated into five languages; the English version[10] was translated by Carl Mitcham.

This work is supported by several of his previous essays on technology, but a strong influence of Edmund Husserl's phenomenology is also evident, particularly regarding the explanations of time-consciousness[11] and the role of vision[12] as a rational foundation.

Following the publication of the text, Mayz Vallenilla —in his capacity as director of the Philosophy Unit and president of IDEA (Instituto de Estudios Avanzados / Institute of Advanced Studies[13]) —and computer scientist and professor Alberto Castillo Vicci organized a research group[14] in 1993 to explore and develop the implications of the theory's postulates.

In addition to them, participants included the scientist and philosopher Alfredo Vallota, and the mathematicians Ennodio Torres Cruz and Douglas Jiménez. As a result of this research effort, three books were published, along with several articles in the Revista de la Sociedad Argentina de Filosofía [Journal of the Argentina Society of Philosophy] and Principia, a journal of the Universidad Centrooccidental Lisandro Alvarado.

Premises and Postulates

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Meta-technics presupposes that technology, particularly since the 20th century, drives an epistemological and ontological shift that leads toward a gradual transformation of human conventional technical rationality (ratio technica), transcending the anthropomorphic, anthropocentric, and geocentric foundations upon which it rests. By transcending these limits, this reason or rationality would shift toward a new logos, termed the meta-technical logos[15], grounded in trans-optical and trans-luminic foundations, as well as being trans-rational and transhuman —distinct from the optical-luminic logos (that is, based primarily on the sense of sight) which has historically served as the foundation of conventional technical rationality.

In this regard, meta-technics begins by analyzing the creation and development of technological instruments and devices that modify and replace human sensoria, thereby expanding and transforming humanity's relationship with alterity, and consequently enabling a knowledge and rationality beyond innate human capacities. In this process, the optical (and spatial) foundation that has thus far prevailed in the organization of alterity —primarily through language— is gradually being replaced by a meta-technical interpretation of stimuli. This entails a new form of intelligibilization and ordering of alterity that would no longer be based on the typical human body and reason.

Thus, a meta-technical transrationality emerges —one that would be neither irrational nor arational, but rather an expanded and transformed rationality that surpasses and challenges the foundations and limits of conventional human rationality. Furthermore, a new discipline, termed nootechnics[16], would eventually be required to enable an intelligible translation between present-day language and rationality and those new transrational syntax codes generated from meta-technical alterity.

Meta-Technics could be described as a historical and phenomenological process of three moments:

1) First moment: The historical and evolutionary trajectory of an anthropocentric —and consequently anthropomorphic and geocentric— technical rationality, based on the extension of innate human capacities and limited to the conventional reality of humankind up to the 20th century.

2) Second moment: The technical rationality of 20th-century humanity develops technologies that expand or modify human senses, even imitating the capabilities of other living beings or creating new ones. This initiates an epistemological shift that drives a distancing from its own anthropocentric, anthropomorphic, and geocentric foundations.

3) Third moment: A new technical rationality emerges —termed meta-technics— that transcends anthropomorphic, anthropocentric, and geocentric limits, generating in parallel a supranature and a new meta-technical logos. It entails radical changes at a somatopsychic level, forging a new human (or transhuman) condition that would be difficult to project from our present rationality.

Scope and Pioneering Researchers

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From the techno-scientific perspective of the theory's applications, Alberto Castillo Vicci expanded the conceptual possibilities of nootechnics by exploring the creation of a nootechnical artifact to enable translation between technical and meta-technical perceptions. He also proposed enhancing the Turing Test protocol with a new test dubbed the "Mayzian Test".

The conceptualization of the nootechnical artifact proposes the integration of three formal logics: quantum logic (for processing meta-technical perception), fuzzy logic (for the nootechnical operation or translating language), and Boolean logic (for processing data from technical rationality). This integration would be achieved through the assembly of quantum and fuzzy Turing machines, supported by nanosensors, creating a nootechnical artifact that translates the transfinite language of the meta-technical logos into the finite language of technical rationality[17]. The mathematics regarding the fuzzy logic necessary for this proposal was developed by Ennodio Torres Cruz[18].

On the other hand, while the Turing Test evaluates a machine's intelligence solely through its observable behavior (the "weak thesis" of artificial intelligence), the Mayzian Test focuses on self-awareness, understood as the capacity of an artifact to set its own ends autonomously, autarchically, and spontaneously —even contrary to its own original bases or axioms (the "strong thesis" of artificial intelligence). The central hypothesis is that a self-aware entity can alter its internal axioms to choose future states non-deducible from its initial programming, which implies freedom and autarchy. Therefore, even if a machine were to pass the Turing Test, confirming the weak thesis, it would not necessarily pass the Mayzian Test, which seeks to validate the strong thesis[19].

Furthermore, beyond the techno-scientific approach to meta-technics and from the perspective of the philosophy of science, quantum mechanics manifests a non-intuitive reality where the standard laws of logic do not hold, but are instead grounded in a non-classical quantum logic. According to Castillo Vicci, this could be leveraged as a foundation for a translating language —or nootechnics— that serves to comprehend the transrationality of meta-technical alterity[20]. Since meta-technics entails a break with the traditional logos, opening the way to a new kind of knowledge and alterity, quantum mechanical phenomena would serve as an involuntary laboratory or a de facto meta-technical alterity. Accordingly, the translation of meta-technical perceptions into technical rationality would closely resemble the translation of quantum phenomena into our classical-mechanics-based phenomenology.

In this same vein, alongside quantum mechanics, mathematics itself —in its most abstract stages— could also constitute a form of meta-technical alterity significantly removed from the conventional technical rationality inherent to human perception. Douglas Jiménez has analyzed the possibility of a meta-technical profile within modern mathematical discourse.

Jiménez highlights that non-Euclidean geometries and the development of concepts such as that of a group mark a shift away from the substantial toward the formal and structural, though still bearing traces of the optical tradition in language. It is worth noting that modern mathematics is characterized by ideal structures, liberated from sensory experience, where the retention of classical language functions as a metaphor to anchor ideas, but its true essence is the logical and algebraic structure[21].

For his part, as previously mentioned, Torres Cruz worked on the mathematical formalization of nootechnics. He did so by establishing an isomorphism between technical and meta-technical languages, utilizing —in addition to fuzzy logic— the principles of Edgar Morin's complex thought, including principles of his own. The complete theoretical model is presented in his essay Modelo de trans-racionalidad en el contexto de la meta-técnica y desde la perspectiva del pensamiento complejo[22] [Model of Trans-rationality in the Context of Meta-technics and from the Perspective of Complex Thought].

Among the group of pioneering researchers, Alfredo Vallota was the one who approached the theory most closely from a philosophical, political, and expository perspective. First, Vallota finds in meta-technical theory an alternative critique of modernity, in addition to the postmodern stance[23]. He pointed out the linguistic turn of this postmodernity, where language no longer represents an objective reality but instead constructs it, undermining the concept of objective and universal truth. This leads to the loss of grand narratives and the difficulty of establishing universal consensus. In contrast, meta-technics represents a radically different critique —one that does not reject the subject (that is, it is not posthumanist), but rather transforms it through technoscience into a transhuman subject, endowed with a new rationality: the meta-technical logos.

Building on this line of thought, Vallota also explores the possibility that the meta-technical logos could replace or transform the traditional role of metaphysics in contemporary philosophy. He recognizes the current crisis of metaphysics, marked by a fading interest in the pursuit of meaning and the prevalence of empiricism and positivism, which have disqualified metaphysics as a valid form of knowledge, viewing it as more emotive than objective. Part of this crisis also stems from traditional metaphysics —rooted in the triad of natural human, being, and knowledge— becoming constrained by its reliance on the optical-luminic logos, which posits the sense of sight as the foundation of knowledge. In contrast, the meta-technical logos incorporates new artificial senses, a transrational rationality that transcends classical logic, and a new integral theory of experience and meaning, rejecting both scientistic and linguistic reductionisms. In this regard, Vallota argued that meta-technics satisfies the conditions proposed by Jesús Conill to be considered a new metaphysics[24], offering a fruitful starting point to address its contemporary crisis and construct a new philosophical model capable of meeting future challenges.

Just as with modernity and metaphysics, Vallota projected the implications of meta-technical theory into the field of anthropology. He explained that technoscience is neither morally neutral nor simply an instrument in the service of humanity, but rather radically transforms human identity, modifying even biological and cultural dimensions. In this way, the divide between the natural and the artificial becomes blurred, and humanity must thus be understood as a being in becoming, possessing a transrationality that will expand beyond traditional human limitations. Meta-technics would represent an evolutionary step within a broader process—including a cultural and philosophical revolution—where humanity's capacity for making expands, giving rise to an anthropogenesis that reflects the creative plasticity of our constantly evolving species[25].

Regarding the dissemination of the theory, in addition to Castillo Vicci's essays, Professor Vallota compiled a meticulous collection of Ernesto Mayz Vallenilla's entire body of work within the Proyecto Ensayo Hispánico[26] [Hispanic Essay Project]. Furthermore, he brought the theory to the general public through lectures organized under the Filosofía en la Ciudad [Philosophy in the City] project[27], and taught the course Técnica y Meta-Técnica[28] [Technics and Meta-Technics] as part of the History of Philosophy seminar at the Central University of Venezuela, contrasting meta-technics with the conceptions of technology held by Juan David García Bacca, Martin Heidegger, and José Ortega y Gasset.

Critiques and Commentary on the Theory

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However, Vallota also noted that if the traditional conception of perception —as the mental vision of an interior object common to all humans— is accepted, meta-technical theory would face strong opposition. This is because any technical modification to human senses would still produce an interior object perceived in a shared, human manner, thereby limiting the possibility of a truly meta-human or transhuman logos[29].

At the same time, he noted that the proposal of this meta-technical logos —derived from the modification or replacement of the senses by technical instruments— implies a radical shift in the doxic foundation supporting our sensory perception, and that this proposal must be interpreted and contrasted with alternative theories to evaluate its validity and scope. In this regard, a second generation of researchers has begun to contrast and integrate meta-technical theory with theories of individuation and autopoiesis to explain, in a phenomenological and structural manner, how technological intervention in human beings modifies their biological and psychic becoming toward a new condition[30].

Regarding the field of ethics, although meta-technics opens up the possibility of overcoming anthropomorphic, anthropocentric, and geocentric prejudices, mere technological progress in itself does not guarantee that a new ethic will effectively take hold. The philosopher Massimo Desiato pointed out that for the conventional ethical framework to free itself from these prejudices, meta-technical advancements alone are not enough; rather, a prior and transitional ethic is also required —one grounded, after all, in human conduct governed by technical rationality that enables a genuine shift in human attitude.

As it happens, human beings do not typically use scientific advancements solely for good; for this reason, in their transition toward the meta-technical state, it is difficult for them to abandon their criteria of self-utility and personal well-being to open themselves to the plurality of existence and respect alterity. Thus, Desiato's critique maintains that although meta-technics offers a framework for a new ethic, it would not suffice on its own for this ethic to be realized in practice, since a prior ethical foundation is necessary to explain why alterity must be valued and anthropocentric human prejudices relinquished.[31]

Another observation regarding meta-technical theory comes from the philosopher Dinu Garber Eainstein. He focused primarily on the issue of what he termed the "absolute thesis" of the meta-technical logos and non-anthropocentric rationality.

Garber distinguishes between two theses defended by Mayz Vallenilla regarding the meta-technical logos: the "relative thesis" and the "absolute thesis". The relative thesis maintains that the meta-technical logos is a rationality that transcends the limits imposed by the human psychosomatic constitution, yet remains fundamentally an expanded human rationality —one that is neither irrational nor alien to humanity. In contrast, the absolute thesis would imply a meta-technical rationality entirely independent of and alien to conventional rationality: a non-human mode of thought that could develop outside the bounds of human understanding, possessing a transhuman and transfinite alterity that could prove unknowable and even incapable of communicating with anthropocentric rationality.

Thus, while Garber accepts the relative thesis, he expresses difficulty in accepting the absolute thesis, as it would imply the existence of a non-human rationality that would be intellectually ungraspable and with which no communication or translation would be possible. This would entail a logos entirely alien to humanity, which he considers unacceptable and contradictory. Nevertheless, he maintains that the meta-technical logos must continue to retain a "human center" that endows it with meaning and significance[32].

Furthermore, similarly to Douglas Jiménez's contribution, he criticizes the absolute thesis for seemingly assuming that reason necessarily depends on optical-luminic sensitivity and that abandoning it would alter intellectual function itself, thereby limiting a priori rationality and the capacity for intelligibility. On the contrary, Garber contends that anthropocentric rationality can be expanded through new data provided by meta-technical instruments without thereby radically transforming its intellectual nature.

Finally, although the philosopher Federico Riu did not directly critique meta-technical theory, he did critique Mayz Vallenilla's conception of technics, which serves as one of the theory's foundational pillars. He considered questionable the claim that technology operates autonomously under its own laws and that its development is subject solely to an internal unfolding, independent of external or contingent circumstances. In his view, this perspective fails to adequately account for the interdependence among technology, science, and the economy, all of which are conditioned by socioeconomic factors, particularly since the emergence of capitalism[33].

In parallel, Riu noted that Mayz Vallenilla adopts a transcendental perspective inspired by Kant and Heidegger, but without justifying the necessity or validity of this grounding for contemporary technics. Ultimately, he argues that the proposed transcendental analysis lacks theoretical rigor and fails to yield useful insights for understanding the phenomenon of contemporary technology.

See also

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References

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[[Category:Philosophy of science]] [[Category:Philosophy of technology]]

  1. ^ Mayz Vallenila, Ernesto (1990). Fundamentos de la Meta-Técnica [The Foundations of Meta-Technics] (in Spanish). Caracas: Monte Ávila Editores. ISBN 9800102809.
  2. ^ Barreto, Luz Marina (2025). "Una Escuela Alemana. Las Raíces Alemanas de la Escuela de Filosofía de la UCV" [A German School. The German Roots of the UCV School of Philosophy]. Apuntes filosóficos. Nº 30 (59). Caracas: Universidad Centrral de Venezuela.
  3. ^ Mayz Vallenilla, Ernesto (1966). Del Hombre y su Alienación [On Man and His Alienation] (PDF) (in Spanish). Caracas: Instituto Nacional de Cultura y Bellas Artes. Colección Pensamiento y Verdad.
  4. ^ Mayz Vallenilla, Ernesto (1972). Técnica y Humanismo [Technics and Humanism] (PDF) (in Spanish). Caracas: Archivo Ernesto Mayz Vallenilla. Universidad Simón Bolívar.
  5. ^ Mayz Vallenilla, Ernesto (1974). Esbozo de una Crítica de la Razón Técnica [Outline of a Critique of Technical Reason] (PDF) (in Spanish). Caracas: Equinoccio.
  6. ^ Mayz Vallenilla, Ernesto (1982). El Dominio del Poder [The Domain of Power] (PDF) (in Spanish). Barcelona: Editorial Ariel. ISBN 84-344-0836-8.
  7. ^ Mayz Vallenilla, Ernesto (1983). Ratio Technica [Ratio Technica] (in Spanish). Caracas: Monte Ávila Editores.
  8. ^ Mayz Vallenilla, Ernesto (1993). Fundamentos de la meta-técnica. Barcelona [The Foundations of Meta-Technics]. Gedisa. p. 2. ISBN 8474324963.
  9. ^ Yoris Villasana, Corina (June 27, 2024). "El Accidentado Camino de la Filosofía en Venezuela (II)" [The Chequered Path of Philosophy in Venezuela (II)]. El Nacional. Retrieved 25 July 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ Mayz Vallenilla, Ernesto (2004). The Foundations of Meta-Technics [Mitcham]. Translated by Mitcham, Carl. University Press of America. ISBN 0761829059.
  11. ^ Mayz Vallenilla, Ernesto. "Tiempo y conciencia". Fundamentos de la Meta-Técnica [The Foundations of Meta-Technics] (in Spanish). Caracas: Fundación para la Cultura Urbana. p. 59. ISBN 9806553225.
  12. ^ Mayz Vallenilla, Ernesto (2005). "Introducción". Fundamentos de la Meta-Técnica [The Foundations of Meta-Technics] (in Spanish). Caracas: Fundación para la Cultura Urbana. pp. XXIX. ISBN 9806553225.
  13. ^ Serrano, Arturo (July 11, 2021). "Filosofando desde Las Cumbres" [Philosophizing from Las Cumbres]. Papel Literario. Retrieved 25 July 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ Castillo Vicci, Alberto (2017). "Desde la Mirada de Castillo: Crónica Epistolar Autobiográfica" [From Castillo’s Perspective: An Autobiographical Epistolary Chronicle]. REDINE (in Spanish). 9 (Nº 2). Barquisimeto: Universidad Centroccidental Lisandro Alvarado: 7.
  15. ^ Mayz Vallenilla, Ernesto (2005). "Epigénesis de la Meta-Técnica". Fundamentos de la Meta-Técnica [The Foundations of Meta-Technics] (in Spanish). Caracas: Fundación para la Cultura Urbana. p. 15. ISBN 9806553225.
  16. ^ Mayz Vallenilla, Ernesto (2005). "Nootecnia y Demiurgia". Fundamentos de la Meta-Técnica [The Foundations of Meta-Technics] (in Spanish). Caracas: Fundación para la Cultura Urbana. p. 21. ISBN 9806553225.
  17. ^ Castillo Vicci, Alberto (2018). Filosofía y Matemáticas de la Meta-Técnica [Philosophy and Mathematics of Meta-Technics] (in Spanish). pp. 98–134. ISBN 1790221463.
  18. ^ Castillo Vicci, Alberto (2018). Filosofía y Matemáticas de la Meta-Técnica [Philosophy and Mathematics of Meta-Technics] (in Spanish). p. 6. ISBN 1790221463.
  19. ^ Castillo Vicci, Alberto. "Inteligencia Artificial y Meta-Técnica". Revista de la Sociedad Argentina de Filosofía. Áño XI (Nº 11): 153–163.
  20. ^ Castillo Vicci, Alberto (May 2010). "La Nanotecnología como Meta-Técnica". Revista Principia (Nº 33). Barquisimeto: 166–170.
  21. ^ Jiménez, Douglas (May 2010). "Divagaciones Acerca de la Posibilidad del Carácter Metatécnico del Discurso Matemático Moderno". Revista Principia (Nº 33). Barquisimeto: 122–142.
  22. ^ Torres Cruz, Ennodio (May 2010). "Modelo de transracionalidad en el contexto de la meta-técnica y desde la perspectiva del pensamiento complejo". Revista Principia (Nº 33). Barquisimeto: 33–120.
  23. ^ Vallota, Alfredo (May 2010). "Postmodernidad y Meta-Técnica". Revista Principia (Nº 33). Barquisimeto: 7–35.
  24. ^ Vallota, Alfredo (2001). "De la Metafísica a la Meta-Técnica" (PDF). Revista de la Sociedad Argentina de Filosofía. Años X-XXI (Nº 11). Córdoba: 175–201.
  25. ^ Vallota, Alfredo (1998). "Meta-Técnica, Antropocentrismo y Evolución" [Meta-Technics, Anthropocentrism, and Evolution]. Revista de Hispanismo Filosófico (Nº 3). Madrid: 25–40.
  26. ^ Vallota, Alfredo. "Ernesto Mayz Vallenilla. El Hombre y su Obra" [Ernesto Mayz Vallenilla: The Man and His Work.]. Proyecto Ensayo Hispánico. Retrieved July 25, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  27. ^ Vallota, Alfredo (April 2016). "Filosofía en la ciudad. Del sujeto moderno a la antropogénesis metatécnica" [Philosophy in the City. From the Modern Subject to Metatechnical Anthropogenesis.]. Centro Cultural Chacao. Caracas. Retrieved July 26, 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  28. ^ Vallota, Alfredo (2011). "Técnica y Meta-Técnica" (PDF). Escuela de Filosofía UCV. Libro de programas. Retrieved July 26, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  29. ^ Vallota, Alfredo (1996). "Consideraciones Acerca de la Percepción Sensorial en la Meta-Técnica" [Considerations Regarding Sensory Perception in Meta-Technics]. Revista Venezolana de Filosofía (Nº 33): 109–127.
  30. ^ Suniaga Hernández, Salvador (2026). "Máquinas y Devenir: Convergencias entre Individuación, Autopoiesis y Meta-Técnica" [Machines and Becoming: Convergences between Individuation, Autopoiesis, and Meta-Technics]. Eikasía (Nº 134): 169–182. doi:10.57027/eikasia.134.1294.
  31. ^ Desiato, Massimo (1996). "Implicaciones éticas y antropológicas de la meta-técnica". Revista Venezolana de Filosofía (Nº 33). Universidad Simón Bolívar: 25–39.
  32. ^ Garber Eaistein, Dinu (1996). "Notas en Torno al Logos Meta-Técnico en Fundamentos de la Meta-Técnica de Ernesto Mayz Vallenilla" [Notes on the Meta-Technical logos in Ernesto Mayz Vallenilla’s Foundations of Meta-Technics]. Revista Venezolana de Filosofía (Nº 33). Universidad Simón Bolívar.
  33. ^ Riu, Federico (2010). "Ernesto Mayz Vallenilla: Crítica de la Razón Técnica". Ensayos sobre la técnica en Ortega, Heiddeger, García Bacca, Mayz [Essays on Technology in Ortega, Heidegger, García Bacca, and Mayz] (in Spanish). Barcelona: Anthropos Editorial. pp. 112–120. ISBN 978-84-7658-949-6.
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