METATECHNIQUE OF CARE: A CRITIQUE OF TECHNIQUE AND ETHICS OF DWELLING

Abstract

This essay examines the contemporary crisis of care under rapid technics and expansion of AI in health. It argues the crisis is a crisis in our understanding of technique and proposes a metatechnics of care: an art of thinking and steering technologies according to an ethics of dwelling. Methodologically, it weaves a triple hermeneutic: (i) the ontological-poetic ground of care, reconstructed from Heidegger through Weyh and placed in dialogue with Bachelard via Rocha; (ii) concrete applications in health systems –EHRs, algorithmic prediction, robotics, infodemic, digital literacy –highlighting bias, security, interoperability, and workload; (iii) a political critique of technique inspired by Vieira Pinto as read by Braga, centered on technological sovereignty, “new work,” and critical consciousness. The argument converges on three guiding questions to evaluate each innovation: does it create places and return autonomy? does it break dependency and expand sovereignty? does it enact a liberating concern rather than manage persons as variables? The conclusion states that caring in the digital age requires precision and presence: using technology without surrendering freedom, imagination, or responsibility, and building spaces where life can dwell with dignity. The essay unites ontology, practice, and politics to orient health technologies toward human emancipation and a humane craft of care.