The rule of technique

Although he is often careless and bombastic, Jacques Ellul is provocative. This book, The Technological Society, should not be missed by anyone interested in posthumanism. Ellul defines technique as “the totality of methods rationally arrived at and having absolute efficiency (for a given stage of development) in every field of human activity.” His thesis is that in the modern world, technique rules everything. He even says that science is a slave to technique. This is an argument worthy of consideration; perhaps Ellu is right that scientists do not pursue knowledge for its own sake, but only for applicability. This idea certainly seems to jive with America's love affair with pragmatism. Check it out for yourself.