From Technological Autonomy to Technological Bluff: Jacques Ellul and Our Technological Condition

• Authors: J. Craig Hanks , Emily Kay Hanks
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The work of Jacques Ellul is useful in understanding and evaluating the implications of rapidly changing technologies for human values and democracy. Ellul developed three powerful theses about technology: technological autonomy, technological determinism, and technological bluff. In this essay, the authors explicate these views of technology, and place the work of Ellul in dialogue with the ides of other important theorists of technology (including Max Weber, Herbert Marcuse, Lewis Mumford, Langdon Winner, and Hans Jonas). Ellul’s too-often overlooked theses about technology are relevant to our present technological society

Keywords

EN

Jacques Ellul; autonomous technology; technological determinism; technological bluff; technology and democracy

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: Human Affairs
• Year: 2015
• Volume: 25
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 460-470

Dates

published

2015-10-01

online

2015-10-06

Contributors

author

J. Craig Hanks

• Department of Philosophy, 102 Comal Texas State University, 601 University Drive San Marcos, TX 78666 UNITED STATES

author

Emily Kay Hanks

• Department of Political Science, UAC Texas State University, 601 University Drive San Marcos, TX 8666 UNITED STATES

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Identifiers

DOI

10.1515/humaff-2015-0037