About this title: ."..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
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 1964-01-01
Description: Fair. Paperback. Fair condition. Underlined sentences. Title page has writing on it. Cover has tiny tear, soiling and several small creases. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: @1964
Description: Good paperback. 16mo, paperback, 449+pp. edgewear, corners curled and wearing, rubbing, chips spine ends, yellowing, cover. tanning and clean text which is tight save for gutter stress in index section. slight curl to book. philosophy. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 1967
ISBN-13:9780394703909ISBN:0394703901
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Random House Inc
Date Published: 1967-10-01
ISBN-13:9780394703909ISBN:0394703901
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780394703909. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Random House Inc (P)
Date Published: 1967
ISBN-13:9780075441588ISBN:0075441586
Description: Good. PAPERBACK. Contents clean and tight, covers rubbed bumped and lightly creased. Clean and sound with some reading wear. Over twenty years selling secondhand books. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Vintage Books
Date Published: 1964
ISBN-13:9780394703909ISBN:0394703901
Description: Very Good. Paperback in very good condition. Spine is uncreased, binding and text also in very good condition; shelfwear is very light. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Random House Inc
Date Published: 1964
ISBN-13:9780394703909ISBN:0394703901
Description: Good. Paperback. May include moderately worn cover, writing, markings or slight discoloration. May include moderately worn cover, writing, markings or slight discoloration. SKU: 25165170 All orders shipped within 1 business day. 14 day money back guarantee ISBN: 9780394703909. read more
Binding: Mass Market
Publisher: Vintage Books
Date Published: 1964
Description: Very Good with no dust jacket. Light overall soiling to the covers, scuffing and edgewear, yellowing around the page edges. Squared, tightly bound and only a few pages have underlining on them. "A penetrating analysis of our technical civilization and of the effect of an increasingly standardized culture on the future of man.; 12mo 7"-7½" tall; 449 pages. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: RANDOM HOUSE INC
Date Published: 1967
ISBN-13:9780394703909ISBN:0394703901
Description: New. A penetrating analysis of our technical civilization and of the effect of an increasingly standardized culture on the future of man. read more
"Well this is such an interesting book but not necessarily for the issues Ellul brings up. Obviously much has changed of the world from 1954 and in this American translation, which appeared in 1964, (considered by the Knopf publisher as their "Folly") to where one has to wonder if his ideas even have validity anymore. In addition one has to constantly keep track of his vernacular and adjust it to a more modern word sense or at least find an adaptive set of terminology that fits and still makes sense of his themes. Ultimately his idea is of the "machine" be it a State, Corporate/Industrial, Military or Political Engine eventually envelops and determines our human state. No longer is the technology for our use but instead we are controlled by the systems (his idea of the police state is chilling for one). This theme certainly was a prominent and concerning issue during the 1950's and the 1960's - and found its strength in the developing corporate structure. People had very real fears of being lost to technology (Toffler's Future Shock). We still see this element with the popularity of the Terminator and Matrix movies. Ellul's theme furthers a Global technology and world market something that he is very clearly against for fear of losing human, cultural and spiritual identities. Again this is partly a reaction historically to the French decline of political power. It is humorus at times reading between lines to see that sense of French culture ready to fall to this monster like America and Russia had. His analogy to Bread making is a crucial element to understanding his point and certainly we can understand his issue. Who doesn't prefer the homemade or artisanal bread to the manufactured? But we now have a resurgence of interest in things crafted. Certainly a large group of people reacting to Technique - but again to Ellul this is just another means of Technique, just adjusted to please people and lull them into a false sense. Additionally, and somewhat more difficult to work with, is his belief that our whole being has been so subversed that we are no longer aware (he does offer interesting observations about entertainment) and worse even if so that any resistance to systems is futile (yet another modern technological reference: the Borg). When one has reached such a conclusion it doesn't really allow any room for discussion about anyone or any society being able to change course. It is a major flaw in the work. Another weakness in the vast book is ignoring the idea of Entrepeneurship, Capitalism and Technique. Specifically the Corporate Engines start out from a person's idea and eventually expand. Business and Technology drive each other and for many profit and wealth are the primary factors in building the global network not necessarily Effeciencies or Systems management. Those elements can be and are manipulated by individuals with nothing more than greed as their motive. There is no real accounting for such aspects and as such it is glaringly absent in his work. Also he notes that large Effeciencies can ultimately only be handled by Government agencies since they are too expensive but as we know Government (or State as he typically refers to)involvemnet leads to huge amounts of ineffeciency and collapse. Regardless of these issues the book does present some interesting ideas and lays the historical groundwork for understanding the tumultuous changes that came in the late 1960's when the whole world literally rioted against "the System". Did it make any difference in the end - to Ellul of course it was a futile exercise I'm sure. The Machine moves on."
"Ellul is one of those thinkers, like Simone Weil or Hannah Arendt, who are in a class to themselves. He defines technology, not by tools and tehniques, but by a set of assumptions governing the choices we make, where utility and the possibility of doing something overrides all other considerations, becomes, in fact, the determinative value of society."
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