Create an Intellectual biography

Create an intellectual biography of a major contributor to Philosophy of Communication mentioned in the texts or lectures and read a primary work
by the contributor; developing an outline of the book and situated it in the context of this course.  This is your choice. Whichever philosophical period and whichever philosopher you choose is permitted.

 

FOR EXAMPLE – IF YOU WERE TO CHOOSE THE PHILOSOPHER PLATO – You will READ ANY ONE OF HIS PRIMARY WORKS CALLED “DIALOGUES” – THE GORGIAS, THE REPUBLIC, ETC.

 

Resource Material http://classics.mit.edu/index.html

  

The intellectual biography should:

1. Include the major questions/issues which the author/philosopher  addressed

 

1. Situate the author and work within “history of ideas” – see note on “history of ideas” below.

 

1. Present metaphors that explain significance of the philosopher’s/author’s work for the study of Communication Ethics.

 

Your Intellectual Biography should work with the primary work – in this outline format; to include in 3-5 pages:

 

1. Theoretical Contribution

–       What is the thesis or main point or core idea of the work?

–       What is the methodological/philosophical perspective or theoretical home of the essay?

 

1. Basic Content

–       List and define the major metaphors of the essay.

 

1. Significance – What is the significance of this essay to the study of communication?

 

Pabis 2

Ellul, J. (1964).
The Technological Society.
(J. Wilkinson, Trans.) New York: Vintage Books.

Intellectual Bibliography

Situate in Scholarship:

Jacques Ellul was born in Bordeaux, France in 1912. His self-professed cosmopolitan identity was the result of his mother’s Protestant, French-Portugese background and his father’s Greek Orthodox/Voltarian, Italo-Maltese and Serbian roots. Ellul studied philosophy at the universities of Bordeaux and Paris, where he met friend and colleague Bernard Charbonneau in 1929 who shared his interest in social philosophy and political ecology. Ellul’s early work was influenced by Marx, Kierkegaard, and Karl Barth. Barth’s writings inspired Ellul to take an interest in theology and the Gospel, and in 1932 Ellul converted to Christianity after having a vision of God which he refused to discuss throughout his lifetime. Ellul concluded that he was unable to synthesize Marxist doctrine with Christianity, and many of his post-conversion writings emphasize the dichotomy between these two philosophies.

Ellul obtained his doctorate in 1936 with a thesis entitled The History and Legal Nature of the Mancipum. He began his teaching career at the Faculty of Law in Montpelier (1937-38) before moving on to posts in Strasbourg and Clermont-Ferrand. During World War II, Ellul was a leader in the French Resistance, and he was later honored for his efforts to save Jews during this engagement. After the war, Ellul vowed to remain absent from party politics, although he briefly held an administrative position with the City of Bordeaux from 1944-1945. He also worked as a lay pastor and began what was to become a lifetime engagement with various theological organizations.

Ellul’s academic career resumed when he was appointed professor of social history at the University of Bordeaux in 1947. Here he began to seriously pursue publication on a wide variety of specializations including Roman law, the history and sociology of institutions, Marxism, propaganda, and technique in society. By the time of his death in 1994, Ellul had produced 58 books and more than a thousand articles.

Major Question:

Although Ellul is well known for his philosophical contributions to the subjects of religion, politics, justice, humanism, and media ecology, Ellul is probably best known for his writings on technology and the human environment. Ellul’s philosophic approach toward technology revolves around the question of technological determinism. In The Technological Society (1954), Ellul explores the concept of modern technique as an autonomous force which unconsciously compels man to serve its purposes, creates a false reality, and eventually replaces spirit as a locus of the sacred. In connection with this notion, Ellul asks the question “Into what has technique transformed man’s efforts into the spiritual?”

Book Metaphor:

The principle metaphor employed in The Technological Society is “technical phenomenon,” a term used to describe the social revolution in which political, social, and human techniques became joined with the state. Ellul maintains that the technical phenomenon is the most important in human history (233) because it separates man from human motives and renders him an unconscious participant in the autonomous agenda of technique, eventually turning against the very spirit of creativity which inspired it. The technical phenomenon leads to technological civilization, a metaphor which implies a construction by and for technique, whereby all social reality is exclusively technique.

Significance to the Study of Philosophy of Communication:

The single most important concept identified by Ellul relating to the philosophy of communication is Ellul’s contention that technique constructs and shapes human communication according to its demands because, by its nature, technique possesses a monopoly of action. Toward this end Ellul maintains that “no human action is possible except as it is mediated and censored by the technical medium” (418). Therefore, “every human initiative must use technique in order to express itself” (420).

Chapter I – Techniques

Key Metaphors: organization, technical phenomenon, universalism, progress, invention, social plasticity

Chapter Thesis: The term technique should not be confused with or limited to machines. Technique is autonomous phenomenon which represents an end to itself. Its goal is to control results of future events in advance. The development of a proper understanding of technique requires an understanding of the historical circumstances which surround its emergence and propagation.

Significance of Each Metaphor to Communication Ethics: Technique must be defined by the duality of rational judgment with conscious behavior, i.e., the technical phenomenon. The way a civilization views its spiritual and intellectual relationship with the world determines its acceptance of technique. Technique represents pure externality and does not thrive in the presence of a universalizing philosophy. When individual possibility is applied to the external or material world, man employs method to organize, invent, and progress for the purpose of ensuring technical control.

Chapter II – The Characterology of Technique

Key Metaphors: Rationality, artificiality, automatism, technical slavery, self-augmentation, technological civilization

Chapter III – Technique and Economy

Key Metaphors: Technical progress, economic technique, political economy, statistical atmosphere, norms and plans, liberal interventionism, macroeconomy

Chapter Thesis: “Technique always creates a kind of secret society, a closed fraternity of its practioners” (162). Comprehension of economic theory now requires one to be both a specialist and a technician. The common man and his needs are left out of the conversation. As natural law concedes to technical law, humans are absorbed into the processes until technique is no longer conscious or obtrusive.

Significance of Each Metaphor to Communication Ethics: The merging of science with economics, methodology and technique, urges us to “stick to the facts” (160). Political economy becomes technique, loses its moral dimension, and develops its own ethical framework (161). Human necessity thus becomes defined by economic necessity.

Chapter IV – Technique and the State

Key Metaphors: technical organism, motive force of the state, propaganda, public and private morality, totalitarianism, zweckwissenschaft

Chapter Thesis: Ellul maintains that the “technical phenomenon” which joins political, social, and human views with that of the state is the most important in human history (233) because it separates man from human motives and renders him an unconscious participant in the autonomous agenda of technique, eventually turning against the very human creativity which inspired it.

Significance of Each Metaphor to Communication Ethics: The “technical organism” which the state becomes as it co-opts traditional and private techniques into its system fails to consider man as the motive. Thus, politicians become subordinate to the technical phenomenon. “Theoretically, our politicians are at the center of the machinery, but actually they are being progressively eliminated by it” (254). Political doctrine becomes a “rationalizing mechanism” for the actions of state (282). Example: wars of “necessity” (286). Public and private conceptions of morality no longer have force or reality in the fantasy constructed by a political technique that has become totalitarian (288). Man becomes restrained in both thought and action by an external reality which he has self-imposed (303).

Chapter V – Human Techniques

Key Metaphors: Human milieu, humanizing technique, psychological technique

Chapter Thesis: In order to effectively question what form of humanity is under attack at the hands of technique, we must agree on a conception of man that is “a priori and non-scientific” (392).

Significance of Each Metaphor to Communication Ethics: Humanism is a term that has developed in response to technique. The argument that moral development will follow material development is part of the false technical reality. Ellul argues that humanism is “a conception that involves contempt for man’s inner life to the advantage of his sociological life, contempt of his moral and intellectual life to the advantage of his material life” (338). Human techniques such as propaganda are designed to manipulate the passions and “a good social conscience appears with the suppression of the critical faculty” (369) creating a new sphere of the “sacred” (370) and a complete reconstruction of reality (371).

Communication Ethics

Midterm: Intellectual Biography

Søren Kierkegaard

Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) is considered by many to be the father of existentialism, but the central question behind most of his work is how to be an authentic Christian in Christendom. He wanted to show that it was possible to live a godly life even though the Christian Church of Denmark had turned religion into a type of club. Kierkegaard was a member of a very serious sect of Lutherans who were heavily stimulated by the values of guilt and individual responsibility—both concepts are frequently dealt with throughout his works.

One of the most important aspects of Søren Kierkegaard’s thought to Communication Ethics is the type of rhetoric he sought to unravel—namely, to challenge people to go beyond the stereotyped identities inherent to their religious ideologies. It was an effort to get people to see that they were responsible for their own choices, and that they could in fact choose. For Kierkegaard the Christian faith was not mere words that one could recite in order to be saved, it went much deeper to the heart—the person reciting the words had to believe them wholeheartedly or it was all for naught. It was through authentic faith that the individual had a chance to become a true self. To be a true self meant that one was responsible for his or her choices, and these choices carried with them a sense of anxiety or dread.

Kierkegaard owes much of his philosophical beliefs to the figure Socrates (to which his dissertation was also focused). The main ideas Kierkegaard takes from Socrates is the use of irony to elicit genuine responses from people, not to get what might be termed a “stump speech,” or to put it another way, unreflective memorization of church supported answers to difficult questions. One of the ironic methods employed throughout much of Kierkegaard’s work is the use of pseudonymous authorship. This method of indirect communication came to characterize much of his work, and the purpose behind its usage was to eliminate the reader’s reliance upon the authority of the author, and to come to one’s own conclusions.

In one of his most notable works, Fear and Trembling, Kierkegaard provides a compelling ethical stance that is both Biblical and provocative to his audience. The story of Abraham and Isaac is the backdrop to the message he is trying to convey—the sacrifice of one’s own son may be breaking the law of societal norms, but the law that trumps all is obedience to God—it is a suspension of the ethical for the higher call.

Kierkegaard is notable for constantly disregarding the work of Hegel and his conception of grand synthesis. Hegelianism had as its goal the pursuit of absolute knowledge. But Kierkegaard had an objection, i.e. original sin. Particularly, the idea that science could assist in any way for humanity to progress beyond original sin was ludicrous. In The Concept of Dread (1957), he states that “sin does not properly belong in any science” (p. 14). For Kierkegaard, the concept of sin has no place in the sciences, particularly that of Psychology, because it distorts its significance. It alters the concept and causes one’s mood to be false rather than genuine.

Original Sin is the biblical concept that man is inherently sinful, but does not preclude responsibility before God and man. Ethical action is still possible, and should be held up as an ideal regardless of if it is within man’s natural capacity to perform ethical actions.

Ethics assumes that man has possession of the necessary conditions to be able to perform ethical actions and for Kierkegaard “the more ideal ethics is the better” (p. 15). In other words, a standard of perfection that is unattainable does not presuppose that man is or should be able to reach it. Hence, grace plays a large part in the thought of Kierkegaard, but it does not mean that man is any less responsible for his actions.

The work selected for this project, The Anxieties of the Heathen, contributes to the field of Communication Ethics in that it depicts the Christian devoutness of Kierkegaard and his overarching concern for his people through his progression from indirect to direct communication as he uses his actual name under the authorship title. Because it was written after he experienced a metamorphosis this text represents the direct communication style of Kierkegaard. He no longer thought that indirect communication would suffice—he recognized the call to be a personal witness, to make his own convictions as clear and compelling as possible.

The selected text is written from a devout Christian perspective that has repentance and authenticity as its goal. The major metaphor of the text is anxiety, and the main purpose is to systematically account for why and how it is that the heathen has much of anxiety while the Christian does not. Kierkegaard’s metaphors—selected throughout the text—contribute to the discussion of Communication Ethics in several ways, but the purpose of the entire text is in fact a depiction of care—the willingness to attend to the other. In this case, the others are his countrymen that are being led astray by wolves in sheep’s clothing. Distance was a central tenet of Kierkegaard. But his purpose behind masking his identity of authorship was overcome by a definite sense that he must be authentic to the other.

Kierkegaard’s historical moment called for responsiveness to the inarticulate good of his countrymen. They were people deeply grounded in the text of tradition, but far away from the true meaning of their faith. The metaphors throughout his text are grounded in Biblical narrative and have meaning to his audience and the Communication Ethics audience because they not only evoke interpersonal responsibility, but they are also a call to repentance—the heart behind the faith they profess.

Kierkegaard, S. (1971). Christian discourses: The anxieties of the heathen. (W. Lowrie, Trans.).

Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1848).

Introduction

Thesis: “the fact is that neither the lilies nor the birds are heathen, but neither are the lilies and birds Christians” (p.13)

Metaphors:

· Condemnation—in order to avoid a condemning tone, it is argued that Christ uses the lilies and birds to depict a life that is innocent—and neither the Christian nor heathen will fit this type. For both have made choices, whereas the creatures not made in the image of God just simply are. That is, they exist within God’s will without choosing to be so. But the Christian is blessed for choosing, and the heathen is condemned for choosing.

Chapter 1: The Anxiety of Poverty

Thesis: Be not therefore anxious, saying, what shall we eat? Or, What shall we d rink?—after all these thing do the heathen seek.

Metaphors:

· Daily Bread—the allusion to manna, and is used to describe the complete dependence upon God for sustenance. It is exactly enough, but not a bit more. The Christian may be, in fact, impoverished, but he is not poor—or at least should not have anxiety over this. The Christian differs from the birds of the air, in that the must pray for his daily bread. The bird does not ask, but receives. However, it is through the praying that the anxiety is relieved—and since it received through prayer, the Christian knows it is from God. “To pray and give thanks is to him more important than the food…” (p. 20).

· Poverty—to be poor or in poverty is to not be able to pray or give thanks—the poor Christian does not wish to talk of his earthly poverty, rather his riches in heaven. The Christian in poverty who is without anxiety of poverty is dead to the world—the Christian lives by dying.

· Riches—the man who prays and gives thanks is richer each day because he realizes that he exists for God and God for him. The earthly rich become poorer the more they forget to thank God.

Chapter 2: The Anxiety of Abundance

Thesis: “the notion of possession is an illusion” (p. 31).

Metaphors:

· Abundance—is false security. Having more often equals having more anxiety. God always supplies the bird with enough—it never occurs to the bird to have more or to have less—what is has it has. The bird does not require all that it sees—just enough. If one has abundance but does not also have anxiety associated with it, he is either a Christian or a bird. To be rich I must be assured of tomorrow. Therefore, only the Christian can be truly rich. In order to know that one has abundance, one must be aware of where the abundance comes.

· Possession—the rich can only be rich if they actually have possessions. And that which has been given him is only in the form of a trust—the owner is God. Since God is the owner, and man the steward, the dissemination of said riches must occur at the right time and place leaving no though of the morrow. The Christian seek the giver not the gift.

Chapter 3: The Anxiety of Lowliness

Thesis: “the lowly Christian does not walk into the snare of optical illusion, he sees with the eyes of faith, and with the swiftness of the faith which seeks God he is at the beginning, he is himself before God, content with being himself” (p. 42).

Metaphors:

· Contentment—the lowly Christian walks by faith, and is content with himself before God just as the bird is what it is. The lowly Christian no only is what he is before God, but also wills for this to be the case.

· The Pattern—Christ as the pattern of life for the lowly Christian. The Pattern of the Lord’s life upon Earth as expressly offered to the man seeking direction for this life. The closer the Christian gets to resemble the Pattern—the closer his kinship to God—Christ lived in actual outward lowliness.

· Despair—the heathen in despair has anxiety because he worries about those which he is not.

Chapter 4: The Anxiety of Highness

Thesis: “the only way one who is on high can truly be without anxiety is not to be higher than anyone else” (p. 53).

Metaphors:

· Highness—it does not occur to the bird that being on high he should rule over others. The bird on high is a type of the Christian’s existence in heaven—all are on high—and there is plenty of room for all to soar in the sky of heaven. The Christian of high position lays aside any false allusions when in the prayer chamber. The heathen in high rank is actually in the abyss, because he has yet to perceive Him who stands above.

Chapter 5: The Anxiety of Presumption

Thesis: “anxiety is to be regarded precisely as a curse upon presumptuousness” (p. 63).

Metaphors:

· Anxiety of Presumption—occurs when one does not will the same things that God wills. And the avoidance of the anxiety of presumption occurs by both willing and doing what God wills.

· Presumption—is an affront against God whether it is large or small. It is presumptuous to be ignorant of how much one constantly needs God. “Presumption is dull ignorance of God” (p. 69).

· Grace—the Christian only wants God’s grace to be and do that which God wills for him to be and do. Nothing more and nothing less. To be satisfied with God’s grace may at first glance seem like a lowly thing, but it is, in fact, the most blessed of all states.

Chapter 6: The Anxiety of Self-Torment

Thesis: “what is it to be a self-tormentor…it is to cause oneself this worry” (p. 73).

Metaphors:

· Self-Torment—“anxiety for the next day is precisely what self-torment is” (p. 73).

· The Next Day—all anxiety is at bottom the anxiety about the next day—tomorrow. The only one who has lost obsession for the next day is either the man who is dying or the man who is truly alive.

· Today—“to cram today with eternity and not with the next day” is the solution for tomorrow’s anxiety.

Chapter 7: The Anxiety of Irresolution, Fickleness and Disconsolateness

Thesis: “God cannot even call to the heathen, for it is as if there were no one to call upon” (p.93).

Metaphors:

· Superfluous—does more to honor one’s Creator than the self-importance of bustle.

· Irresolution—the serving of two masters equals irresolution and long deliberation over whom to serve is hesitation that does not plan to serve one wholly.

-3-