This paper examines the ‘robotic moment’, as defined by Sherry Turkle (2011), in the light of general theories of human-technology relations, notably the theoretical framework founded by Jacques Ellul (1954). Potential psychological, cultural, and technical consequences of human-technology interaction, especially human interaction with so-called ‘social-robots’, are explored. It is demonstrated that the ‘robotic moment’ may reasonably be understood as a result of the formation of pseudo-social anthropo-technological circuits, and as a result of cultural disintegration and an increasingly prevalent societal impulse to incorporate everything that is commonly not understood to be technological (i.e. even the biological, the social, and the spiritual) into the technological order. It is demonstrated that the category ‘social robot’ may reasonably be understood, depending on how the robot is used, as a technique humaine, as a magical practice, or as a complex hybrid practice. Assumptions concerning the nature of technologies, the extent to which technologies are useful, and the impact of technologies on society are questioned. The extent to which a society’s worldview may determine or influence how its inhabitants relate to technologies is explored. It is suggested that, as societies demystify the universe and develop mature techno-secular worldviews, means-to-ends (i.e. technologies) are being mystified; the ensuing quasi-religious techno-secular worldviews, which fail to recognise the limitations of technologies, may in turn be responsible for much of the irrational use of technologies in technological societies. The essay suggests that the ‘robotic moment’ can be explained not only in terms of vulnerabilities inherent in human nature and in terms of properties inherent in technological society, but also in terms of the notions of the sacred that prevail in technically advanced societies and a society’s practice of science, engineering, magic, and faith.

This dissertation presents a practical theological evaluation of Bible study materials which incorporate the video medium as part of their package. I begin by establishing a focus of practical theology which emphasises the importance of the development of an active reflective sojourning of the practical theologian. I conclude that: <ul> Practical theology is concerned with establishing and cultivating the rhythm of action and reflection within the experience of the Christian community of faith. This is a process of listening to the Word of God and discerning to address the community of faith through proposing change, with all these tasks operating within a current context of the Christian faith and for the purpose of maintaining and perfecting the Christian community.</ul> Following this, I present the established rhythm of action and reflection by drawing on a narrative of my experience and arrive at a perceived problem with the current development of Bible study materials that incorporate the video medium. The following thesis is proposed: <ul> The Church has a responsibility to train and equip believers within the context of the relational community interacting with the Word of God so the community may grow in discernment and maturity. The Church has, and continues, to utilise different media to provide teaching and training on a mass scale. The current products being developed as Bible study materials (especially those incorporating the video medium) are failing to meet this responsibility.</ul> From this position the study then presents a continuing sojourning through a theoretical and empirical investigation to explore the validity of the thesis and cultivate further my active reflection. The theoretical investigation provides three complimentary perspectives for evaluation: Cultural Value Systems; Communication Theories; and Pedagogical Approaches. The empirical exploration includes a Qualitative Document Analysis of the Bible Study Products which is supplemented by Qualitative Interviews of small group leaders from a local church setting. In conclusion, the thesis is re-evaluated against the outcomes of the study and a proposed change is presented for the purpose of maintaining and perfecting the Christian community. This draws attention to the tension between established cultures and the introduction of new technologies; the importance of a production focussed informed by a theology of small groups; the need for new media to be continually evaluated in their utilisation; and the need to recognise the dominant ‘message’ communicated by the combination of content and the medium. A closing narrative reflection of my experience is also included to illustrate the ongoing cultivation of the rhythm of action and reflection which this study has encouraged. Copyright / Dissertation (MA(Theol))--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

This thesis examines the ministerial call in three novels by William Golding, specifically The Spire, Darkness Visible, and Rites of Passage. The central character of each novel, a Christian minister, has a vision, or series of visions, which dominates his life. The call and vision(s) of Golding's ministers are examined in light of Jacques Ellul's The Humiliation of the Word, a work examining the differences between the word and the image. The ministerial call, in this thesis, is linked to Ellul's ideas about the word; the vision, in this thesis, is linked to Ellul's ideas of the image. As a result of following their vision(s) rather than their call, the ministers fail, and their lives end in despair and ruin.

The primary purpose of this thesis is to analyze the rhetorical transformations of the Swedish self-image during the NATO process, particularly through the lens of democratic propaganda as described by the French philosopher and sociologist Jacques Ellul. It explores how this image is constructed and communicated in Swedish media, with a specific focus on the public service broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT). The research methodology employed in this thesis is a thematic-oriented close reading approach. The analysis concentrates on passages that primarily discuss the image of Sweden, examining them within the framework of Jacques Ellul's theory of democratic propaganda. The study explores the characteristics of democratic propaganda, its mechanisms, and manifestations. Of particular interest are aspects related to how democratic propaganda can help the state reinforce collective myths about the ideals of democracy as reflected in the analyzed material. Rather than using a specific rhetorical analysis method such as topic analysis or cluster analysis, the study is guided by the questions motivated by the theory itself.

Titre de l'écran-titre (visionné le 7 août 2023) / Cette thèse propose d'explorer un courant d'idée informel et marginal du XXᵉ siècle qui, selon son hypothèse de départ, aurait assuré la transition entre les premières contestations contre la révolution industrielle et certains mouvements environnementalistes contemporains. Ce courant peut ainsi se caractériser comme une écologie politique révolutionnaire, se fondant sur une critique radicale de la civilisation industrielle et de son facteur principal, la technique moderne. Le but de cette étude est d'en évaluer la cohérence et la pertinence : a-t-on affaire à un ensemble dispersé d'idées et d'auteurs, ou bien à un diagnostic commun ? Est-ce que ces idées ont toujours un intérêt face à la crise écologique actuelle ? Un certain nombre d'intellectuels peuvent être rattachés à cette perspective technocritique ; néanmoins, cette étude se concentre sur les œuvres de quatre d'entre eux : l'urbaniste américain Lewis Mumford (1895-1990), le philosophe allemand Günther Anders (1902-1992), le sociologue français Jacques Ellul (1912-1994) et l'historien nomade Ivan Illich (1926-2002). Dans un premier temps, ce travail présente la méthode qui a guidé l'étude de ces textes : une socio-histoire des idées qui emprunte tout autant à la discipline historique qu'à la discipline sociologique. Les enjeux de l'étude des pensées environnementalistes et écologistes sont également exposés, afin de souligner les spécificités de cet objet de recherche. Ce qui amène à la formulation de la problématique de cette thèse : ce courant d'idées écologiste peut-il être défini comme un langage, au sens que l'histoire des idées politiques donne à ce concept ? La principale assertion de cette étude est qu'il doit plutôt être compris comme une matrice intellectuelle, un ensemble cohérent de leitmotivs visant la connaissance social-historique, et pouvant servir de base à des langages davantage tournés vers l'action politique. Ce qui contraste avec les polémiques romantiques contre le machinisme au XIXᵉ siècle, qui exprimaient une sensibilité anti-industrielle plus diffuse. Par la suite, les cinq principaux chapitres de cette étude fournissent un contre-récit du XXᵉ siècle, à travers la lecture profonde des textes des auteurs retenus. Ce récit débute avec l'examen des ouvrages pionniers de Lewis Mumford durant l'entre-deux-guerres. À la suite à la Grande Guerre, celui-ci chercha à édifier une perspective alternative à la fois au libéralisme, au conservatisme et au marxisme. En parallèle, il se lança dans une étude historique de fond de ce qu'il nommait « l'Âge de la Machine », et en tira une critique de la civilisation de la puissance. Après la Seconde Guerre mondiale et les bombardements nucléaires d'Hiroshima et de Nagasaki, Günther Anders et Jacques Ellul élaborèrent, de manière convergente, un diagnostic critique de la société technicienne et conformiste de l'après-guerre. Ils décrivirent le type d'individu qu'elle produit, un homme médial ayant perdu le contrôle sur les techniques qu'il a lâché dans son monde - qui ne serait alors justement plus le sien. De plus, ils s'interrogèrent sur la possibilité d'une extinction de l'humanité, avant tout par un ultime conflit atomique. Mumford, Anders et Ellul réitérèrent leurs analyses dans les années 1960 et 1970, alors que l'Occident était marqué par une vague multiforme de contestations et de révoltes. Prenant leurs distances face à ces mouvements, ces trois intellectuels estimaient qu'en réalité un système mégatechnique venait de triompher. Celui-ci se déploierait de manière purement causale, dans le seul but d'accroître sa taille et sa puissance. Par conséquent, la Révolution et l'Histoire semblaient être devenues obsolètes. Ivan Illich fit sienne cette critique de la démesure et de la déraison technologiques, en l'étendant au secteur des services. Il étudia également les sources profondes de cette civilisation industrielle, qu'il situa dans le passé chrétien de l'Occident. Finalement, en s'appuyant sur les travaux de ses homologues, Illich traça les grandes lignes de ce que pourrait être une société conviviale. Cependant, le mouvement écologiste contemporain échoua à intégrer ces idées, et manqua sa propre révolution. Se pose alors la question de savoir quelle attitude il est possible d'adopter face au « Temps de la Fin ». La matrice intellectuelle de cette écologie politique révolutionnaire reste active de nos jours, à travers les langages du néo-luddisme, de l'écosocialisme et de la décroissance. Des recherches futures sont nécessaires pour bien saisir cette filiation, et pour rattacher d'autres auteurs à cette matrice d'idées. / This thesis proposes to explore an informal and marginal current of thought of the 20ᵗʰ century which, according to its initial hypothesis, would have ensured the transition between the first protests against the industrial revolution and certain contemporary environmentalist movements. This current can thus be characterized as a revolutionary political ecology, based on a radical critique of industrial civilization and its main factor, modern technics. The purpose of this study is to assess its coherence and pertinency: are we dealing with a dispersed set of ideas and authors, or a common diagnosis? Do these ideas still have relevance in the face of the current ecological crisis? A number of intellectuals can relate to this technocritical perspective; nevertheless, this study focuses on the works of four of them: the American urban planner Lewis Mumford (1895-1990), the German philosopher Günther Anders (1902-1992), the French sociologist Jacques Ellul (1912-1994) and the nomadic historian Ivan Illich (1926-2002). First, this work presents the method that guided the study of these texts: a socio-history of ideas that borrows as much from the historical discipline as from the sociological discipline. The stakes of the study of environmentalist and ecological ideas are also exposed, in order to underline the specificity of this research object. Which leads to the formulation of the problematic of this thesis: can this current of ecological ideas be defined as a language, in the sense that the history of political ideas gives to this concept? The main assertion of this study is that it should rather be understood as an intellectual matrix, a coherent set of leitmotifs aimed at social-historical knowledge, and which can serve as a basis for languages more oriented towards political action. This contrasts with the romantic polemics against mechanization in the 19ᵗʰ century, which expressed a more diffuse anti-industrial sensibility. Subsequently, the five main chapters of this study provide a counter-narrative of the 20ᵗʰ century, through a deep reading of the texts of the selected authors. This account begins with an examination of the pioneering works of Lewis Mumford during the interwar period. Following the Great War, he sought to build an alternative perspective to both liberalism, conservatism and Marxism. At the same time, he embarked on an in-depth historical study of what he called the "Machine Age", and drew from it a critique of the power civilization. After the Second World War and the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Günther Anders and Jacques Ellul elaborated, in a convergent way, a critical diagnosis of the technical and conformist society of the post-war period. They described the type of individual it produces, a medial man who has lost control over the technics he has unleashed on his world - which would then no longer be his own. Moreover, they wondered about the possibility of an extinction of humanity, above all by an ultimate atomic conflict. Mumford, Anders and Ellul reiterated their analyzes in the 1960s and 1970s, when the West was marked by a multifaceted wave of protests and revolts. Taking their distance from these movements, these three intellectuals believed that in reality a megatechnical system had just triumphed. This system would deploy in a purely causal way, with the sole purpose of increasing its size and power. Consequently, Revolution and History seemed to have become obsolete. Ivan Illich made this criticism of technological excess and unreason his own, extending it to the service sector. He also studied the deep sources of this industrial civilization, which he located in the Christian past of the West. Eventually, building on the work of his counterparts, Illich outlined what a society of conviviality might be. However, the contemporary environmental movement didn't integrate these ideas, and failed its own revolution. The question then arises as to what attitude one should adopt in the face of the "Time of the End". The intellectual matrix of this revolutionary political ecology remains active today, through the languages of neo-Luddism, ecosocialism and degrowth. Future research is needed to fully understand this filiation, and to link other authors to this matrix of ideas.