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tommy Eternal Order Devil's Island 16544 Posts |
Propaganda The Formation of Men's Attitudes
by Jacques Ellul, 1973, paperback Interesting book on the subject. What do you think of some of the ideas herein? http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Propag......lul.html
If there is a single truth about Magic, it is that nothing on earth so efficiently evades it.
Tommy |
Vlad_77 Inner circle The Netherlands 5829 Posts |
Quote:
On 2013-09-05 06:33, tommy wrote: Hi Tommy, I presented a peer reviewed paper at the Greater Philadelphia Philosophy Consortium some years ago which focused on Jacques Ellul's book The Technological Society and Martin Heidegger's essay titled "On Technology." Ellul presents a compelling argument that propaganda is indeed a technology. [In the book, the term technique that he uses means technology]. The obvious example of course was Nazi Germany. But, Ellul posited that technology could represent a new fascism, and I am paraphrasing here, that this new fascism would be welcomed; it would be embraced. There will be no need for jackboots and parades. I hasten to add that Ellul was not a neo-Luddite. Rather his work was/is a cautionary tale to warn us. Both Ellul and Heidegger argued that technology has caused us to view the world differently. Heidegger for instance argued that technology makes us see not a forest, but a potential resource. Similarly, Ellul talks about human resources. Ellul also notes in The Technological Society that the advent of the industrial revolution - which was a technological revolution - created fields which embrace technology. The field of industrial psychology Ellul argues does not concern itself with the patient. It concerns itself with getting the patient back on to the assembly line. We are tied to "kronos" time meaning that it's dictated in the technological milieu when we sleep, when we eat, even though we may not be sleepy or hungry. Heidegger's argument is similar in terms of how we perceive the world through the lens of technology. Translated, the concept he called Enframing is related to the Platonic notion of coming into being and passing away. In that process, the world is shaped. Unlike Ellul however, Heidegger does not necessarily make a moral statement nor does Heidegger warn us. There is historical and phenomenological precedent in their arguments however. Economist Adam Smith wrote of human capital. In Heideggerian terms Smith was Enframing the human being; seeing the human as a resource whose worth was purely economic. Ellul understood this as exploitation. What is stressed in many schools? What is valued in an artificially created curriculum? Engineering, sciences, maths, and other technological pursuits. We speak of rankings in these areas as though they were indicators of knowledge, when in fact these tell us nothing more than the percentage of technologists being churned out of universities and joining the work force. Universities themselves have become unwitting partners to this paradigm in taking the resource approach. And the propaganda is both formal and informal. Liberal arts and fine arts majors are seen as wasting their lives while engineers are perceived as doing the right thing. THAT has become valued and meaningful. While other disciplines have to suck it up so to speak and endure budget cut after budget cut, engineering programs suffer no such shortfalls. Why? Ellul would answer that the technology known as propaganda propagates the larger technological milieu and creates a hierarchy of value. Many parents admonish their kids for seeking degrees in music, art, performance art, and literature and strongly encourage their kids to get an engineering degree because their kids will achieve success. These parents aren't at fault however. Ellul's argument is that these parents have been propagandized into believing that students wanting to be poets, artists, actors, and yes even magicians, is a thing not desirable in the technological society. I am curious what discussions will come in this thread; thanks for starting it Tommy! Best, Vlad |
tommy Eternal Order Devil's Island 16544 Posts |
Wonderful! I am quite fascinated by the subject and there is a lot more to it than I thought.
If there is a single truth about Magic, it is that nothing on earth so efficiently evades it.
Tommy |
landmark Inner circle within a triangle 5194 Posts |
Nice discussion, Vlad. However, I don't believe technology can be labeled the driver of propaganda without being explicit as to what purposes technology is put: technology, theoretically value - free is, in a capitalist world, the servant and prisoner of profit. From that distortion, the others follow.
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Vlad_77 Inner circle The Netherlands 5829 Posts |
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On 2013-09-05 11:29, landmark wrote: Thanks Landmark! Ellul would argue that technology differs in that in the extreme, we surrender choice. Also I should clarify: technology isn't the driver of propaganda, rather propaganda for Ellul is a technology and he argues in The Technological Society that it is the most powerful technology. Ellul was a socialist and his position would be that even in a capitalist world, that world is shaped by rechnology, rather than the world shaping it; ultimately, we become its slaves, but we delude ourselves into thinking we control technology. What's important to remember is that Ellul isn't arguing from an economist's perspective but rather from a sociological/philosophical viewpoint. He asks, as have others, for instance why we used the A-bomb in WWII. Ellul's answer to this and other questions - and here please bear in mind I am grossly oversimplifying a 500+ page textually dense book. His answer is when technology is developed, we will use it. So, we had Fat Man and Little Boy and even though the Russians entered the war and the Allies achieved combat superiority in the Pacific theater, we dropped the bombs because we had the means. Ellul argued "Technique has become autonomous; it has fashioned an omnivorous world which obeys its own laws and which has renounced all tradition." (Ellul 1964 p. 14). The following is a link to a six part series called The Betrayal of Technology. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdogID589Mk I hope it creates even more discussion. Best, Vlad |
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