Research On Jacques Ellul's Theory Of Technological System

Ellul's technological thought has acquired a thorough argument in the research of technological philosophy and the research of technological society. So it is significant to understand and grasp his technological thought. His humanism-oriented thought of technology is coming from his life, religious relief, background of his time and mankind's circumstances made his change of academic research direction to his emphasis on human. The center of his technological thought is not as the technological autonomy as acknowledged in Chinese scholars now. It is his technological system theory. The special concept of technology defined by Ellul is the key to grasp his thought. He defined the technology as"the ensemble of the absolute efficient methods", and in terms of which, he pointing out the technological phenomenon and its characters, such as rationality, unity, university and tantalization, etc. So it is rational to conclude the concept of the technological environment. According to those, Ellul believes that the technology comes out the characters of the system. He points out the technological system that it is the information and"mediate"that linking the subsystems together and influencing each other, that it is the feedback that making the system stable and self-augmentable. So we can understand Ellul's thought about autonomous technology is the result from the operation of the technological system. Ellul told that human free in the technological society was in danger, basing on his technological system theory and his opinions of autonomous technology, which is the most important problem he wants to worry about. However, there is some shortcoming in Ellul's technological theory; for example, he used his concept of technology often wandering from the general to the special, which result in the incoherence of his thought in logical. But it is important of Ellul's technological theory to influence on the human activities rationally.