Examining the Transition from the Modern Era to the Era of Digital Space in Light of Foucault’s and Heidegger’s Conceptions of Modernity

Ghoreyshi, SeyedJamal; Motallebi Korbekandi,, Hossein

doi:10.30465/os.2025.45154.1899

Examining the Transition from the Modern Era to the Era of Digital Space in Light of Foucault’s and Heidegger’s Conceptions of Modernity

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

SeyedJamal Ghoreyshi ¹

Hossein Motallebi Korbekandi, ²

¹ PhD in Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, University of Isfahan; Researcher at Cyberspace Research Institute, Tehran, Iran

² Assistant Professor, Department of Theology, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran

10.30465/os.2025.45154.1899

Abstract

Introduction
The transformation heralded by digital space has become an essential philosophical problem for our era, provoking the fundamental question: have these changes constituted a genuine epochal transition from modernity to a new digital age, or are they a further unfolding and intensification of modernity itself? Addressing this requires more than a technical or technological analysis—it demands engagement with the deep structures that have long shaped our understanding of subjectivity, power, and knowledge.
Central to this inquiry is modernity’s contested legacy, as articulated by major figures of European philosophy. For thinkers such as Heidegger and Foucault, modernity is not a static unity but a complex constellation—a “totality” that both defines and problematizes itself. They, building critically on the legacies of Descartes, Kant, and Hegel, sought to make visible the hidden frameworks—ontological and epistemic, disciplinary and technological—which have come to characterize the modern condition. Modernity, therefore, cannot be reduced to a singular idea but is manifest in rival formulations: as the age of the subject, of representation, of certainty, of discipline, or of technological enframing.
Depending on how one conceptualizes both the modern era and the digital era, the very meaning of “transition” becomes an object of disputation. Are we witnessing expansion, intensification, rupture, or something like “transition within continuity”? The categories developed by these philosophers—such as subjectivism, enframing (Gestell), disciplinary power, biopower, metanarrative, and representation—form the conceptual landscape for examining this question.
Through a close interrogation of Heidegger’s and Foucault’s evolving accounts of knowledge, power, and technology, this research opens onto the problem of whether digital space signals the exhaustion of modern paradigms or their radical transformation. By asking how digital networks, big data, and algorithmic governance interact with these formative structures, the present inquiry seeks to render explicit the conditions and limits of our age’s most significant transformations.

Materials & Methods
This article examines the transition from the modern era to the era of digital space by analyzing the conceptual frameworks of modernity proposed by Michel Foucault and Martin Heidegger, with supplementary insights from thinkers such as Baudrillard, Lyotard, Descartes, Kant, and Hegel. The study focuses on two key formulations of modernity: one centered on epistemic relations (knowledge and representation) and the other on power relations (disciplinary and technological power). Foucault's archaeological works, particularly The Order of Things, and Heidegger's concept of Gestell (enframing) serve as primary theoretical foundations. The analysis extends to the digital era by exploring the implications of big data, network analysis, and agent-based models within Foucault's epistemic framework. Additionally, the concept of network power is introduced and contrasted with Foucault's disciplinary power to argue for a transition in power dynamics in the digital age. The methodology involves a critical review of philosophical and theoretical texts, alongside an examination of contemporary digital phenomena such as big data and network surveillance.
Discussion & Results
The study reveals that the transition to the digital era does not represent a complete break from modernity but rather an intensification and reconfiguration of its foundational categories. Foucault's epistemic formulation highlights the centrality of human finitude in modern knowledge systems, where humans occupy a dual position as both empirically determined and transcendentally constitutive. In the digital era, this duality persists, as big data analysis oscillates between empirical and transcendental dimensions. While some approaches seek to reduce knowledge to functional data usage, others emphasize the enduring role of human theorizing in interpreting data. This epistemic oscillation aligns with Foucault's observation of the "Man and his doubles" paradigm, suggesting that the digital age has not transcended modern epistemic structures.
Regarding power relations, the study identifies a shift from Foucault's disciplinary power to network power in the digital era. Disciplinary power operates through spatial-temporal determinations, rendering individuals visible and disciplinable within institutions like prisons or hospitals. In contrast, network power abstracts individuals into nodes within a network, prioritizing connections and relationships over individual identities. This reversal redefines the exercise of power, focusing on the network itself rather than on individuals or populations. The findings suggest that digital space introduces a new mode of power that is neither individual-centric nor population-centric but network-centric.

Conclusion
The transition from the modern era to the digital era is characterized by continuity and transformation rather than a complete rupture. Foucault's and Heidegger's formulations of modernity provide a robust framework for understanding this transition, revealing that the digital age amplifies and reconfigures modern epistemic and power relations. While big data and network analysis introduce new scientific paradigms, they remain entangled in the epistemic oscillation between empirical and transcendental dimensions. But, the emergence of network power represents a significant shift in the exercise of power. Ultimately, the digital era does not mark the end of modernity but depending on how we conceptualize the modern era and the era of digital space, we can judge the meaningfulness of talking about a "transition." In other words, the various conceptualizations of these eras show their different relationships, which can manifest as expansion, intensification, transition, or transition within continuity.

Keywords

Digital space era

Foucault

Heidegger

Big-data

Network power

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