Jacques Ellul Essays

  • Jacques Ellul Propaganda

    1958 Words  | 4 Pages

    The overall theme in Jacques Ellul’s ‘Propaganda’ is clearly explained in the first parts of the book. The book was written within a wider concept of mass participation, which was the centerpiece of several treaties in the early and mid-twentieth century. The focus of the book is on the link between social and political life, the technical mentality and communication. Although propaganda is concerned with modifying ideologies, it is more of the influence of character in ways that can be defined

  • Jacques Ellul Propaganda

    1178 Words  | 3 Pages

    brainwashing crowds, of dystopias and wartime. However, in philosopher Jacques Ellul’s writings, he theorizes a modern propaganda far more sophisticated than these remnants of the past. As he illustrates the terrifying effectiveness of modern propaganda, his words form connections to the contemporary world, reminding us to question the pre-notions and “truth” we hold, and whether we have freedom of thought and choice. Ellul begins his essay by quantifying propaganda as a modern technique that is

  • The Technological Society By Jacques Ellul

    747 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Technological Society- Jacques Ellul Prabhash Dhama (A/2392/2011) The write-up by Jacques Ellul talks about how important a part of our lives science and technology have become. Technology and science combined have give us a world of machines. It gives us a vision of a world where technique would demolition anything in its part that does not propagate its idea or logic, which could even include humanity. what is also surprising is how what he talks about has proven to be more relevant in

  • Jacques Ellul's Article on Techniques Integrates Machines with Society

    641 Words  | 2 Pages

    This article by Jacques Ellul on Techniques is very fascinating. The writer discusses of machines and its relationship with technique which has been described nicely. Technique is a way of doing something that fulfills a goal or an aim, in an organized manner. It is an art to do the work in a very meaningful and efficient way to reach the best results. Early civilizations have seen the man growing up in many aspects, this approach and ability to invent new things is called ‘technique’. The term

  • Does Technology Drive History?

    703 Words  | 2 Pages

    idea often claim more: technology may well be pushing us in directions we do not want to go, that technology has somehow gotten "out of control." Technological determinism comes in different forms. For some, such as the late French scholar Jacques Ellul (1965, 1980, 1990), technology is the most powerful force in modern life, moving according to its own logic, and well beyond the control of humans. Others, such as political theorist Langdon Winner (1977, 1986), assert that tech... ... middle

  • Hitler's Powerful Leadership

    1220 Words  | 3 Pages

    little Hitler." WORKS CITED Adler, Ronald B., and Jeanne Marquardt Elmhorst. Communicating at Work. New York: McGraw Hill, 1996. Chambers, Mortimer., et al. The Western Experience. Volume C. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1995. Ellul, Jacques. Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes. New York: Vintage Books, 1973. Griffin, Em. The Mind Changers. Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1982. Perry, Marvin., et al. Sources of the Western Tradition. Volume II. Boston: Houghton

  • Medical Technology and the Separation of Man's Body and Mind

    2416 Words  | 5 Pages

    Medical Technology and the Separation of Man's Body and Mind The human was once whole in days before, but somewhere in his journey to the present, he lost himself. His mind and body have become separate identities that are unaware of each other's existence. Modern society reflects and encourages those thoughts very well, in my opinion. If a person believes his body is broken, ill, or in need of upgrading, he will seek out a medical professional specialized in the area of distress. Arriving to

  • Expansion vs. Preservation

    715 Words  | 2 Pages

    Expansion vs. Preservation William Sonntag was acclaimed in the 1850s as a painter of the dramatic landscape. In his painting “Garden of the Gods,” Sonntag portrays a family in the time of the westward expansion. The very subtle painting, expressed by its loose brushwork, captures the shifting atmospheric contrasts of light and dark. Apparent in the painting is a family struggling to survive in nature. In the bottom left corner of the painting is a weather beaten shack, the home of the struggling

  • Feenbergs Beliefs Of Technology

    702 Words  | 2 Pages

    instrumental theories of technology while allowing for technological progress as well. The substantive theory of technology argues that the effect technology has on society is more damaging then the visible effects of the technologies themselves. Jacques Ellul and Martin Heidegger believe that technology establishes a new way of living that rebuilds society as something that they cannot control themselves. An example would be to compare fast food to a home cooked meal. Though some argue that fast food

  • Essay on Voltaire’s Candide: The Accuracy of Candide

    766 Words  | 2 Pages

    of human selfishness.   An example would be the behavior of the sailor who Pangloss and Candide met on their voyage to Lisbon.  This sailor was rescued from drowning by Jacques the Anabaptist. Yet when Jacques fell into the sea himself, the sailor refused to risk his own life to save him. As a result of this selfishness, Jacques died. Later on, when the sailor reached shore, he ignored the sufferings of people horribly injured by a recent earthquake. Instead the sailor took money from them in order

  • absolutism

    838 Words  | 2 Pages

    Absolutism as Primary Form of Government Absolutism became the primary form of government for many Europeans in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It appealed to so many for reasons the same as other governments. “Absolutists contended that social and political harmony would result when subjects obeyed their divinely sanctioned rulers in all aspects“ (Text 594). Absolutists rulers felt God gave them their ability to teach the masses the proper ways to live. Absolutist rulers had several

  • Voltaire's Candide Character Analysis

    1423 Words  | 3 Pages

    harm to one another in some way. Although as soon as James or Jacques, the Anabaptist, is introduced to us he seems different then any other character so far. Most of the people Candide meet throughout his journey are mean and cause him harm but Jacques is kind right from the beginning. In Chapter three Jacques carries Candide, someone who he had never met, into his home, washed him, gave him food and employs him in his rug factory. Jacque?s kindness revives Candide?s faith in Pangloss?s theory that

  • Voltaire's Candide: The Prospect of Survival

    604 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Voltaire's Candide, many of the characters share the uncanny ability to go through difficult situations and survive. Some of them are even killed, only to return in the next chapter healthier than ever. In many cases, they narrowly escape death due to the help of a friend who bails them out and asks for nothing in return. After so many close calls, one can't help but speculate if a higher power is in control of their fates, or possibly their survival is solely due to luck. In the

  • The Oedipus Complex - Sigmund Freud vs. Jacques Lacan

    1388 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sigmund Freud vs. Jacques Lacan The story of Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus has been interpreted by innumerable writers, philosophers, and critics in countless ways; the methods of interpreting Oedipus vary from mad rages and blind accusations to ignorantly perverse acts ranging from basic sexual desire to pre-destined fate ordained by the gods. Perhaps the most famous psychoanalyst in history Sigmund Freud theorized that Oedipus' story was applicable to all. French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan translated

  • A Comparison Between The Works Of Amedeo Modigliani And Jacques Villon

    742 Words  | 2 Pages

    Italian-born Cubist painter, Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920) and the French, Jacques Villon (1875-1963), both painted vibrant and expressive portraits during the early twentieth-century. In this case, the chosen portraits are Modigliani's "Portrait of Mrs. Hastings", 1915 and Villon's "Mme. Fulgence", 1936. Both of these compositions are portraits. Nothing is of more importance than the sitter herself. The female sitter in Modigliani's piece, sits in an almost dizzying pose with a twist in her

  • A Comparison of Jacques-Lois David and Joseph Goebbels

    967 Words  | 2 Pages

    so vitally, that in the end they succumb to it utterly and can never again escape from it” (Goebbels). Both Jacques-Lois David and Joseph Goebbels were aspiring men who rose above the standards that were set for them and utilized their own individual talent in order to sway people’s opinions to match their own. They both possessed extraordinary talent and ideas for their time, where Jacques-Lois David was an artist who mastered in the neoclassical style of painting and used his art work as a form

  • Nostradamus

    1032 Words  | 3 Pages

    of Jewish ancestry. His grandfather, Pierre de Nostradame, had settled in Provence because by the mid-1400s, many Jews had come to live there. Nostradamus' father was Jacques de Nostradame. Jacques worked as a scholary, since most people didn't know how to write he wrote things for them, from love letters to formal documents. Jacques' income provided a good home at the time. Nostradamus' earliest recollection of his home was the following: Typical of all provençal homes in the sixteenth century was

  • Candide

    2034 Words  | 5 Pages

    Holland. In Holland, a kindly Anabaptist named Jacques takes Candide in. Candide runs into a deformed beggar and discovers that it is Pangloss. Pangloss explains that he has contracted syphilis and that Cunégonde and her family have all been brutally murdered by the Bulgar army. Nonetheless, he maintains his optimistic outlook. Jacques takes Pangloss in as well. The three travel to Lisbon together, but before they arrive their ship runs into a storm and Jacques is drowned. Candide and Pangloss arrive in

  • Austin's Ditch: The Political Necessity and Impossibility of

    3052 Words  | 7 Pages

    Austin's Ditch: The Political Necessity and Impossibility of "Non-Serious" Speech ABSTRACT: This essay seeks to show that there are political implications in Jacques Derrida’s critique of J.L. Austin’s notion of performative speech. If, as Derrida claims and Austin denies, performative utterances are necessarily "contaminated" by that which Austin refuses to consider (the speech of the poet and the actor in which literal force is never intended), then what are the implications for the speech

  • Jacques Lacan

    3307 Words  | 7 Pages

    The theories of Jacques Lacan give explanation and intention to the narrator’s actions throughout the novel “Surfacing”. Although Margaret Atwood may not have had any knowledge of the French psychoanalyst’s philosophies, I feel that both were making inferences on behavior and psychology and that the two undeniably synchronize with each other. I will first identify the complex philosophies of Jacques Lacan and then demonstrate how the narrator falls outside of Lacan’s view of society and how this