Technological System

by Jacques Ellul

NOUVELLE EDITION - Janvier 2012 : CENTENAIRE de la naissance de Jacques Ellul






Cet essai, publié en 1977 dans la collection " Liberté de l'Esprit " de Raymond Aron et longtemps introuvable en librairie, est la clef de voûte de sa trilogie (La Technique – Le Système technicien – Le Bluff technologique). Il est considéré comme son livre le plus abouti.




La technique, pour Ellul, est le facteur déterminant de la société. Plus que le politique et l'économie. Elle n'est ni bonne ni mauvaise, mais ambivalente. Elle s'auto-accroît en suivant sa propre logique. Elle piétine la démocratie. Elle épuise les ressources naturelles. Elle uniformise les civilisations. Elle a des effets imprévisibles. Elle rend l'avenir impensable. Grâce à l'informatique, la Technique a changé de nature : elle forme, à l'intérieur de la société, un " système technicien ". L'informatique, en unifiant tous les sous-systèmes (téléphonique, aérien, de production et distribution d'énergie, etc.) lui a permis de devenir un tout organisé, lequel vit à l'intérieur de la société, le modèle, l'utilise, la transforme. Mais ce système, qui s'auto-engendre, est aveugle. Il ne sait pas où il va. Et il ne corrige pas ses propres erreurs.






Un livre indispensable pour qui ne veut pas penser en rond.

Genres: Sociology, Technology, Philosophy, Theology, Nonfiction, France, Cultural

384 pages, Hardcover

Published October 1, 1980

About the author

Baptised Catholic, Ellul became an atheist and Marxist at 19, and a Christian of the Reformed Church at 22. During his Marxist days, he was a member of the French Communist Party. During World War II, he fought with the French Underground against the Nazi occupation of France.

Educated at the Universities of Bordeaux and Paris, he taught Sociology and the History of Law at the Universities of Strausbourg and Montpellier. In 1946 he returned to Bordeaux where he lived, wrote, served as Mayor, and taught until his death in 1994.

In the 40 books and hundreds of articles Ellul wrote in his lifetime, his dominant theme was always the threat to human freedom posed by modern technology. His tenor and methodology is objective and scholarly, and the perspective is a sociological one. Few of his books are overtly political -- even though they deal directly with political phenomena -- and several of his books, including "Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes" and "The Technological Society" are required reading in many graduate communication curricula.

Ellul was also a respected and serious Christian theologian whose 1948 work, "The Presence of the Kingdom," makes explicit a dual theme inherent, though subtly stated, in all of his writing, a sort of yin and yang of modern technological society: sin and sacramentality.

Reviews

[L Gregory Lott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been reading Jacques Ellul for many years and have been following his writings ever since I bought his book, "The Technological Society" way back in the early 1970's. And so when I came upon his book, "The Technological System," republished by Wipf & Stock, I knew that I wanted to add it to my collection of Ellul works, since it was one I did not have in my library yet. As with his other books, this one does not disappoint; there is much to ponder and reflect on in this book. Ellul tells the reader upfront that this work is in conjunction with his book "The Technological Society" and in point of fact goes beyond it. Suffice it to say that even though Ellul wrote this book in 1980 many of the things he writes about are just as applicable today as they were then (maybe in certain aspects even more so). Ellul was certainly as a sociologist and philosopher a man ahead of his times. Though, his way of writing at times can be ponderous, so as to be hard to understand it is still worthwhile reading. I also enjoy his sarcasm he injects from time to time. His conclusion, "Man in the Technological System" is uncanny as to how it relates to our society today; those 26 pages and his endnotes alone are well worth the price of the book. Here is just one example: "We should not, of course, neglect the powers of the concrete and voluntary integration of man into technology. For instance, the great fear aroused by a detailed record of each individual's entire background." (endnote #4 p. 359) To cap it off, I close with this statement from Ellul: "Thus, the technological system engulfs the individual, and he never even realizes it." (p. 316) This to me encapsulates the world in which we live in today. Indeed, one could say that Ellul writing in 1980 was very presentient about what is occurring in the world today, in regards to the "technological system" and how that impacts us all.

[Leandro Dutra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fondamental pour comprendre la société moderne, même avec des détails que le temps prouva incorrects. Surtout montre la corruption de l’homme sous l’aspect du système global de notre civilisation, selon la tradition réformée de l’auteur.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good extension/update of 'The Technological Society,' and, as with the former, as relevant today as ever.

[Mz · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://www.respublica.gr/2021/02/post...

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Très théorique, tire un peu sur la ficelle pour faire rentrer dans "son système". Présenté d'un point de vue très neutre, peu de prise de partie. Assez compliqué, difficile à apprécier.