Beyond Heidegger: Ridley Scott's Blade Runner and the Path to Authentic Existence in the Technological Ghetto

In The Question Concerning Technology (1954), Heidegger expresses profound concern that humanity has fallen into a technological mode of being, reducing the world and human beings to mere resources in the pursuit of efficiency. He warns that technology's dominance alienates us from our true essence and from the world itself. Heidegger often stated that the philosopher who could think with him, through him, and beyond him had not yet arrived. Ridley Scott, through his film Blade Runner, provides a compelling answer to this challenge. Scott's depiction of a dystopian future mirrors Heidegger's concerns, presenting a "technological ghetto" where only replicants find a sense of belonging, while humans are alienated and disconnected from the world. In this article, I aim to demonstrate that Scott goes beyond merely reflecting Heidegger's philosophy; he actively engages with it, proposing a path toward liberation within a technology-dominated society. Through Blade Runner, Scott illustrates that even in a world increasingly shaped by technology, there is still room for art and truth. By juxtaposing Heidegger's early philosophy in Being and Time with the destructive force of his later ideas in The Question Concerning Technology, Scott suggests a possible escape from the technological ghetto and the possibility of authentic existence through the recognition of death and the embrace of art. I contend that Scott, through Blade Runner, presents a vision of liberation and a way to live authentically alongside technology.