#Jacques Ellul

[raisongardee]

“Au contraire, ce que cherche la propagande, c’est obtenir une action exacte, correcte dans le sens voulu, sans faire intervenir l’élément délibération, choix, décision. Il faut que l’action devienne de l’ordre du réflexe. Mais nous ne voulons pas dire par là qu’il s’agisse d’une pure mécanisation, ou d’une extension universelle du réflexe conditionné. Il faut qu’elle soit aussi spontanée qu’un réflexe, aussi rapide et rigoureuse, aussi aisée à déclencher, aussi bien adaptée. Or une action de cet ordre ne pourra pas être obtenue au travers du processus du choix et de la délibération. Pour que la propagande ait son efficacité, elle doit sans cesse au contraire procéder à un court-circuit de la pensée et de la décision. L’intervention de la propagande devra donc se situer au niveau de l’inconscient. Il ne faut pas que l’homme se sache déterminé de l’extérieur (ce qui est une des conditions de la réussite de la propagande). En outre il faut atteindre tel centre, tel nœud, déclencher tel mécanisme de l’inconscient qui fournisse le résultat d’action et d’action juste, attendu (exemple le problème des motivations inconscientes).”

Jacques Ellul, Propagandes, Paris, Economica, 1962.

[dooareyastudy]

March 2023

Un beau ténébreux, Julien Gracq, 1945 | How come each Gracq’s book I read becomes my favorite? Well, Le roi pêcheur is still my absolute favorite but this one comes right after. The atmosphere, the tension, everthing is addicting. The writing, so elegant and striking. I really love Julien Gracq you guys.

Philosophie du droit, Jacques Ellul, 2022 | This is a lecture from the 70s given by Ellul to PhD students in Bordeaux. Kinda sad to see that PhD students from that same university are now mainly offered lectures on entrepreneurship and how not to be too depressed during their thesis! About the book itself, just like a lecture, some bits are really interesting and others less. Not too dense, overall a good introduction to law philosophy I think!

Pensées, Blaise Pascal, 1669 | I read this in order to read another book about jansenism and the figure of God in Pascal’s, Racine’s and Kant’s work. I’ll admit I skipped the parts about theology but the first half of the book is really worth reading. Not gonna lie, I wouldn’t have enjoy reading this if not for Goldmann’s book that brings a really interesting light on Pascal’s philosophy!

Le Dieu caché, Lucien Goldmann, 1955 | This book is an analysis of Pascal’s Pensées (and Racine’s tragedies but this is a very short part of the book unfortunately). I really like how it uses concepts and methods from Hegel and Marx to give a really deep and interesting insight on Pascal’s philosophy. The main concept of the book is the concept of “vision du monde” (world view). The author tries to demonstrate that Pascal’s philosophy (and Racine’s tragedies) embodies a tragic world view. The author shows that Pascal’s philosophy is one of paradoxes that cannot be solve in the world, but only in christian heaven. Thus, a never ending suffering for the one that cannot not live in the world where everything is relative and full of contradictions yet aspires to something absolute that can embrace and overtake the contradictions.

Liberté grande, Julien Gracq, 1946 | I was a bit disappointed but not too surprising as I am not usually a fan of prose poetry! Well, I had to have a least favorite Gracq’s piece!

Buddenbrooks, Thomas Mann, 1901 | Second book by Mann that I read and he is slowly but surely becoming an author that I really enjoy. This one is the portrayal of an old and wealthy family declining in a generation or so. The writing is clever, witty, often funny, often touching. Reading it was a ride! It had been a while since I appreciated a book so much for its characters.

La forme d’une ville, Julien Gracq, 1985 | An essay about the French city of Nantes and its role in shaping what is a city for the author. Very poetic essay (very Gracq), as the title suggests : as Baudelaire wrote, “la forme d'une ville change plus vite, hélas ! que le cœur d'un mortel”. It isn’t a description of Nantes as it is (was) but rather an exploration of the city as it exists in Gracq’s memory and mind.

[eyeofthestorm888]

“There are no political solutions, only technological ones, the rest is propaganda." -- Jacques Ellul

[kazimirkharza]

Finished the big essay about the evils of social media. Social media is antithetical to individual, societal and environmental well-being. Video adaptation coming soon.

[tail-feathers]

☟ ☟ ☟ ☟ ☟

When I say that people are not good, I am not adopting a Christian or a moral standpoint. I am saying that their two great characteristics, no matter what their society or education, are covetousness and the desire for power. We find these traits always and everywhere.

If, then, we give people complete freedom to choose, they will inevitably seek to dominate someone or something and they will inevitably covet what belongs to others, and a strange feature of covetousness is that it can never be assuaged or satisfied, for once one thing is acquired it directs its attention to something else.

... Jacques Ellul (1912-1994), Anarchy and Christianity

[berlinauslander]

[ryansholin]

Jamuary 17: Technological Society

A real bassline! A drum track that includes some variation! More mixing, compression, and EQ! A sample, processed! More of the same horns! And naturally, as a result, a simple public domain found footage bit to clumsily illustrate what Jacques Ellul is saying.

These little daily exercises are proving quite useful to learn and practice new things, when I put in a small amount of effort.

[thatdamnokie]

“A theology of grace implies universal salvation. What could grace mean if it were granted only to some sinners and not to others according to an arbitrary decree that is totally contrary to the nature of our God? If grace is granted according to the greater or lesser number of sins, it is no longer grace-it is just the opposite because of this accountancy. Paul is the very one who reminds us that the enormity of the sin is no obstacle to grace: Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more (Rom. 5:20). This is the key statement. The greater the sin, the more God’s love reveals itself to be far beyond any judgment or evaluation of ours. This grace covers all things. It is thus effectively universal.”

[world-v-you-blog]

The Betrayal of the West

Am I therefore to become a masochist and reject everything western, deny all the values of our world? No! I take a middle ground: I admit the accusations in their full extent, but I do not accept the rejection of the West in its entirety. I accept responsibility for the evil that has been done, but I deny that only evil has been done. I know our civilization is built on bloodshed and robbery, but…

[raisongardee]

"Malgré les prisons et les massacres, communismes, libéralisme et fascisme ont au fond le même argument dernier, mesurable en francs, en tonnes et en hectolitres : la production […] Et il est normal que, dans ces conditions, rien ne change, car cette loi de fer : produire, cet étalon d’argent qui mesure sa quantité sont le principe et la mort de ce monde qu’ils avaient voulu faire disparaitre : le libéralisme industriel, [et] ils n’en sont que l’aboutissement normal ; s’il est prouvé que la liberté est néfaste à la production, pourquoi, pour permettre au progrès de la production de continuer, l’individu ne se soumettrait-il pas à la discipline nécessaire au Progrès ? A la tyrannie industrielle ? Et derrière le dictateur à panache dressé sur son cheval blanc cabré apparaissent la fumée des usines, les immenses bureaux, la nuit de la mine et la loi du progrès : l’argent."

Bernard Charbonneau, Jacques Ellul, Nous sommes des révolutionnaires malgré nous, 1936.

[dooareyastudy]

Here is what I read in June!

Bernanos was a lucky find, and Sous le soleil de Satan quickly became one of my favorites books ever. Ellul I read to prepare for a seminar during which I had to present some aspects of his philosophy. And Kurz is me falling deeper into the Wertkritik rabbit hole. 

[mayokasolivagant]

"Aucune société avant la nôtre n'a été vouée au travail. Et c'est en même temps la nôtre qui est vraisemblablement créatrice de pénurie. Ceci peut paraître un paradoxe car nous sommes habitués à l'idée inverse, à savoir que dans le passé l'homme manquait de tout, et que c'est depuis nos développement technique que paraît l'abondance, alors qu'il faut exactement envisager les choses autrement. La science économique, c'est la gestion de la rareté, de la pénurie. Nous sommes la société qui est, depuis les origines, la plus créatrice de manque. Bien sûr nous avons produit massivement des biens industriels, mais en même temps une pénurie de biens naturels, allant maintenant jusqu'à celle de l'air, de l'eau, et des principales matières premières. Il s'agit d'évaluer ce rapport : plus nous travaillons, plus nous épuisons les richesses spontanées de la nature, plus nous voulons aussi consommer des biens toujours davantage complexes et glorifiants. Et plus ceci exige alors de nouvelles forces de travail engagées dans de nouveaux processus de production."

- Jaques Ellul - Pour qui, pour quoi, travaillons-nous ? Extrait repris dans la dystopie écologique "Air" de Bertil Scali et Raphaël de Andreis

[benjaminasimpson]

Preaching: The Most Frightful Adventure

Preaching: The Most Frightful Adventure

Photo by Timothy Eberly on Unsplash Thus the witness to the Word of God–the one who testifies that God is the Word and speaks–is in the full sense a witness, while at the same time he restores to the human words its fullness. We have observed that all human language draws its nature and value from the fact that it both comes from the Word of God and is chosen by God to manifest himself. But this…

[berlinauslander]

Oh shit.

[rrrroyale]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Ellul

[makeuphall]