The Technological Society

Description

In what many consider to be Ellul's most important work, The Technological Society (1964), Ellul set forth seven characteristics of modern technology that make efficiency a necessity: rationality, artificiality, automatism of technical choice, self-augmentation, monism, universalism, and autonomy. The rationality of technique enforces logical and mechanical organization through division of labor, the setting of production standards, etc. And it creates an artificial system which "eliminates or subordinates the natural world." Regarding technology, instead of it being subservient to humanity, "human beings have to adapt to it, and accept total change." As an example, Ellul offered the diminished value of the humanities to a technological society. As people begin to question the value of learning ancient languages and history, they question those things which, on the surface, do little to advance their financial and technical state. According to Ellul, this misplaced emphasis is one of the problems with modern education, as it produces a situation in which immense stress is placed on information in our schools. The focus in those schools is to prepare young people to enter the world of information, to be able to work with computers but knowing only their reasoning, their language, their combinations, and the connections between them. This movement is invading the whole intellectual domain and also that of conscience. "..He goes through one human activity after another and shows how it has been technicized, rendered efficient, and diminished in the process." -Harper's Magazine The Technological Society Statement from the Publisher Foreword Translator's Introduction Contents Note to the Reader Author's Foreword to the Revised American Edition Author's Preface to the French Edition CHAPTER I TECHNIQUES Situating the Technical Phenomenon Machines and Technique Science and Technique Organization and Technique Definitions Technical Operation and Technical Phenomenon Historical Development Primitive Technique Greece Rome Christianity and Technique The Sixteenth Century The Industrial Revolution CHAPTER II THE CHARACTEROLOGY OF TECHNIQUE Technique in Civilization Traditional Techniques and Society The New Characteristics Characteristics of Modern Technique Automatism of Technical Choice Self-augmentation Monism The Necessary Linking Together of Techniques Technical Universalism The Autonomy of Technique CHAPTER III TECHNIQUE AND ECONOMY The Best and the Worst The Influence of Technique on the Economy Economic Consequences The Secret Way The Economic Techniques of Observation The Economic Techniques of Action Planning and Liberty The Great Hopes Economic Systems Confronted by Technique Progress Centralized Economy The Authoritarian Economy The Antidemocratic Economy Economic Man CHAPTER IV TECHNIQUE AND THE STATE The States Encounters with Technique Ancient Techniques New Techniques Private and Public Techniques The Reaction of the State to Techniques Repercussions on the State Evolution The Technical Organism The Conflict Between the Politicians and the Technicians Technique and Constitution Technique and Political Doctrines The Totalitarian State Summum Jus: Summa Injuria Repercussion on Technique Technique Unchecked The Role of the State in the Development of Modern Techniques Institutions in the Service of Technique CHAPTER V HUMAN TECHNIQUES Necessities Human Tension Modification of the Milieu and Space Modification of Time and Motion The Creation of the Mass Society Human Techniques Review Educational Technique The Technique of Work Vocational Guidance Propaganda Amusement Sport Medicine Echoes Techniques, Men, and Man L’homme-machine The Dissociation of Man The Triumph of the Unconscious Mass Man Total Integration Technical Anesthesia Integration of the Instincts and of the Spiritual The Final Resolution CHAPTER VI A LOOK AT THE FUTURE A Look at the Year 2000 Bibliography Index