Uncontrollable Societies of Disaffected Individuals: Disbelief and Discredit, Volume 2

Max Weber argued that the development of capitalism would lead to the progressive rationalization and disenchantment of society: today this process is reaching its endpoint and capitalism is collapsing into a disturbing kind of irrationality. It engenders spiritual misery - a paralysis of the function of the human mind or spirit - where reason disappears as a motive of hope, a kingdom of ends in Kants sense. Absolute disenchantment afflicts all those who no longer have anything to expect from the development of hyper-industrial society. Those who are desperate become desperados, and they are becoming more and more numerous. No longer having anything to expect means, at the same time, no longer having anything to fear. And the proliferating repressive mechanisms that are supposed to cope with the effects of this loss of authority turn out to be less and less effective. For such measures engender more and more the opposite of that for which they were intended, but in extreme and totally irrational, unpredictable forms. This is where we are today: the technical system of the hyper-industrial epoch can maintain its power only so long as it is backed up by blind trust, but this trust is undermined by the destructive irrationality stemming from the liquidation of the kingdom of ends. From the moment this trust is lost, hyper-power is inverted into hyper-vulnerability and impotence. The loss of motives of hope then expands, encompassing all of us like a contagious illness. But this all is no longer a we: it is a panic. stiegler2_1_1L 1 stiegler2_1_2R 2 stiegler2_2_1L 3 stiegler2_2_2R 4 stiegler2_3_1L 5 stiegler2_3_2R 6 stiegler2_4_1L 7 stiegler2_4_2R 8 stiegler2_5_1L 9 stiegler2_5_2R 10 stiegler2_6_1L 11 stiegler2_6_2R 12 stiegler2_7_1L 13 stiegler2_7_2R 14 stiegler2_8_1L 15 stiegler2_8_2R 16 stiegler2_9_1L 17 stiegler2_9_2R 18 stiegler2_10_1L 19 stiegler2_10_2R 20 stiegler2_11_1L 21 stiegler2_11_2R 22 stiegler2_12_1L 23 stiegler2_12_2R 24 stiegler2_13_1L 25 stiegler2_13_2R 26 stiegler2_14_1L 27 stiegler2_14_2R 28 stiegler2_15_1L 29 stiegler2_15_2R 30 stiegler2_16_1L 31 stiegler2_16_2R 32 stiegler2_17_1L 33 stiegler2_17_2R 34 stiegler2_18_1L 35 stiegler2_18_2R 36 stiegler2_19_1L 37 stiegler2_19_2R 38 stiegler2_20_1L 39 stiegler2_20_2R 40 stiegler2_21_1L 41 stiegler2_21_2R 42 stiegler2_22_1L 43 stiegler2_22_2R 44 stiegler2_23_1L 45 stiegler2_23_2R 46 stiegler2_24_1L 47 stiegler2_24_2R 48 stiegler2_25_1L 49 stiegler2_25_2R 50 stiegler2_26_1L 51 stiegler2_26_2R 52 stiegler2_27_1L 53 stiegler2_27_2R 54 stiegler2_28_1L 55 stiegler2_28_2R 56 stiegler2_29_1L 57 stiegler2_29_2R 58 stiegler2_30_1L 59 stiegler2_30_2R 60 stiegler2_31_1L 61 stiegler2_31_2R 62 stiegler2_32_1L 63 stiegler2_32_2R 64 stiegler2_33_1L 65 stiegler2_33_2R 66 stiegler2_34_1L 67 stiegler2_34_2R 68 stiegler2_35_1L 69 stiegler2_35_2R 70 stiegler2_36_1L 71 stiegler2_36_2R 72 stiegler2_37_1L 73 stiegler2_37_2R 74 stiegler2_38_1L 75 stiegler2_38_2R 76 stiegler2_39_1L 77 stiegler2_39_2R 78 stiegler2_40_1L 79 stiegler2_40_2R 80 stiegler2_41_1L 81 stiegler2_41_2R 82 stiegler2_42_1L 83 stiegler2_42_2R 84 stiegler2_43_1L 85 stiegler2_43_2R 86 stiegler2_44_1L 87 stiegler2_44_2R 88 stiegler2_45_1L 89 stiegler2_45_2R 90 stiegler2_46_1L 91 stiegler2_46_2R 92 stiegler2_47_1L 93 stiegler2_47_2R 94 stiegler2_48_1L 95 stiegler2_48_2R 96 stiegler2_49_1L 97 stiegler2_49_2R 98 stiegler2_50_1L 99 stiegler2_50_2R 100 stiegler2_51_1L 101 stiegler2_51_2R 102 stiegler2_52_1L 103 stiegler2_52_2R 104 stiegler2_53_1L 105 stiegler2_53_2R 106 stiegler2_54_1L 107 stiegler2_54_2R 108 stiegler2_55_1L 109 stiegler2_55_2R 110 stiegler2_56_1L 111 stiegler2_56_2R 112 stiegler2_57_1L 113 stiegler2_57_2R 114 stiegler2_58_1L 115 stiegler2_58_2R 116 stiegler2_59_1L 117 stiegler2_59_2R 118 stiegler2_60_1L 119 stiegler2_60_2R 120 stiegler2_61_1L 121 stiegler2_61_2R 122 stiegler2_62_1L 123 stiegler2_62_2R 124 stiegler2_63_1L 125 stiegler2_63_2R 126 stiegler2_64_1L 127 stiegler2_64_2R 128 stiegler2_65_1L 129 stiegler2_65_2R 130 stiegler2_66_1L 131 stiegler2_66_2R 132 stiegler2_67_1L 133 stiegler2_67_2R 134 stiegler2_68_1L 135 stiegler2_68_2R 136 stiegler2_69_1L 137 stiegler2_69_2R 138 stiegler2_70_1L 139 stiegler2_70_2R 140 stiegler2_71_1L 141 stiegler2_71_2R 142 stiegler2_72_1L 143 stiegler2_72_2R 144 stiegler2_73_1L 145 stiegler2_73_2R 146 stiegler2_74_1L 147 stiegler2_74_2R 148 stiegler2_75_1L 149 stiegler2_75_2R 150 stiegler2_76_1L 151 stiegler2_76_2R 152 stiegler2_77_1L 153 stiegler2_77_2R 154 stiegler2_78_1L 155 stiegler2_78_2R 156 stiegler2_79_1L 157 stiegler2_79_2R 158 stiegler2_80_1L 159 stiegler2_80_2R 160 stiegler2_81_1L 161 Max Weber argued that the development of capitalism would lead to the progressive rationalization and disenchantment of society: today this process is reaching its endpoint and capitalism is collapsing into a disturbing kind of irrationality. It engenders spiritual misery -- a paralysis of the function of the human mind or spirit -- where reason disappears as a motive of hope, a "kingdom of ends" in Kantʹs sense. Absolute disenchantment afflicts all those who no longer have anything to expect from the development of hyper-industrial society. Those who are desperate become "desperados", and they are becoming more and more numerous. No longer having anything to expect means, at the same time, no longer having anything to fear. And the proliferating repressive mechanisms that are supposed to cope with the effects of this loss of authority turn out to be less and less effective. For such measures engender more and more the opposite of that for which they were intended, but in extreme and totally irrational, unpredictable forms.-- Back cover * Stiegler is one of the most original and important philosophers and cultural theorists in France today. His work is at the interface of philosophy and technology, so it will appeal not only to those studying philosophy but also to students and scholars in media and cultural studies and literary studies. Explores the development of industrial technologies and the prospects for human growth