
Illusions of Freedom
Thomas Merton and Jacques Ellul on Technology and the Human Condition
Jeffrey M. Shaw(Author)
Wipf & Stock Publishers
Published on 2. June 2014
Book
Paperback/Softback
208 pages
978-1-62564-058-1 (ISBN)
Description
Illusions of Freedom examines the opinions and ideas of two twentieth-century writers--Thomas Merton, a Catholic monk living in the United States, and Jacques Ellul, a French Protestant. Contemporaries, they never met or corresponded with each other, but their critique of the influence that technology was beginning to have on the human condition is strikingly similar. Both Merton and Ellul drew upon the ideas of others in formulating their worldview, to include Karl Barth, Soren Kierkegaard, Aldous Huxley, and Karl Marx. Jeffrey Shaw examines the influence that these other philosophers had on Merton and Ellul as they formulated their own ideas on technology's impact on freedom. Tracing the similarities, and in some cases the differences, between their critiques of technology and the idea that progress is always to be seen as something inherently good, one finds that they bring a unique perspective to the debate and offer readers an alternative avenue for reflecting on the meaning of technology and its impact on our lives in the twenty-first century.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Eugene
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 12 mm
Weight
312 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-62564-058-1 (9781625640581)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Jeffrey M. Shaw
Illusions of Freedom
Thomas Merton and Jacques Ellul on Technology and the Human Condition
E-Book
06/2014
Wipf and Stock Publishers
€24.49
Available for download
Person
Jeffrey M. Shaw is an adjunct professor in the General Studies department at Salve Regina University in Newport, RI. His publications are in the fields of ethics, theology, and national security. He lives on a small horse farm in Rhode Island with his wife and two daughters.