Technological Development and the Crisis of the Humanities

Abstract

This research addresses the issue of technological development and the crisis of the humanities, considering it one of the most prominent intellectual and epistemological challenges in the era of cyber-knowledge explosion. This era serves as a pivotal point for analyzing the relationship between successive technological transformations and technical progress, alongside the decline of the humanities within contemporary educational and research systems. The significance of this study lies in its attempt to deconstruct the prevailing discourse that reduces the crisis of the humanities to a mere natural outcome of technological advancement.

The central research problem is formulated around the following main question: To what extent has technological development contributed to deepening the crisis of the humanities? Does this crisis pose a threat to their existence, or is it a forced reshaping of their role under the dominance of utilitarian technical logic? Accordingly, the study emphasizes the relationship between technological advancement and the humanities’ crisis, highlighting the role of the pragmatic (discourse) approach in overcoming the challenges faced by linguistic and humanistic studies. It also underscores the role of the Arabic language and the humanities in constructing meaning and awareness in the digital age.

The research employs a descriptive-analytical methodology to observe manifestations of technological development and analyze their impact on the structure of human knowledge. It also utilizes a critical approach to deconstruct prevailing notions regarding the purported uselessness of the humanities. The study is structured into an introduction, a preamble, and four main chapters. Among the key findings is that the crisis of the humanities is not an existential one but rather a methodological and functional crisis, accelerated and exposed by technological development. The study concludes that overcoming this crisis depends on the humanities’ ability to reformulate their tools and methods in alignment with digital transformations, and that the pragmatic approach in the Arabic language provides an effective framework for revitalizing the role of the humanities and Arabic in the digital era