jacques ellul propaganda the formation of men's attitudes

jacques ellul propaganda the formation of men

For Ellul, technology itself is merely an example of the problem rather than the problem itself. It is the technological mindset, he argues, that disrupts human reflectivity and the quality of human life. Ellul is known for his searing attack on the technological mindset, 'la technique,' which he argues is a self-directing and self-augmenting entity. Of interest to students of rhetorical criticism, Ellul does divide propaganda into political and sociological types. Ellul's interest in these areas is evident in 'Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes' (1965) and 'The Humiliation of the Word' (1985).

Less well known is Ellul's deep interest in human life. Jacques Ellul is widely known among sociologists and philosophers in the West for his analyses of the impact technology has on human society and humans themselves. The myth becomes so powerful that it invades every area of consciousness, leaving no faculty or motivation intact.' The author attempts to put aside ethical judgements on the nature of propaganda, and its common associations with evil manipulation, in his effort to present an overall objective observation of the characteristics of what he terms as 'an existing sociological phenomenon'. 'Through the myth it creates, propaganda imposes a complete range of intuitive knowledge, susceptible of only one interpretation, unique and one-sided, and precluding any divergence. Propaganda is a method of inventing unambiguous political myths, to inspire its subjects to action, or accepting a desired viewpoint with little resistance or debate. Like all forms of marketing, it is important for the propagandist to know the cultural context, customs, current thought and stereotypes of the audience to be targeted, as whilst propaganda seeks to shape the environment both physical and mental, it must first have a broad scope of the terrain from which this desired vision is to be moulded. His text exploring propaganda is based more in observational sociological analysis, similar to Le Bon's exploration of mass psychology, and less like Bernays' or Packard's example laden anecdotes whilst exploring public relations and motivational research in advertising. This is due to the technique's uniquely collectivised and subjective attributes and effects, which are largely dependent on the unreproducible and specific factors of situation and context.

He remarks in the preface 'Not only is propaganda itself a technique, it is also an indispensable condition for the development of technical progress and the establishment of a technological civilisation.' It is difficult to conduct a statistical analysis, reliant on clinically reproduced empirical data, on the effects of propaganda. Jacques Ellul published this lengthy analysis of the techniques of propaganda in 1962, with the aim of presenting an objective sociological exploration of the methods used to manipulate group opinions into action.

Jacques ellul propaganda the formation of men's attitudes