Babel – the city of man and the technological paradox. The Jacques Ellul view. Luiz Adriano Gonçalves Borges, PhD (UTFPR, Brazil)
In Genesis 11.1-32, we find the story of man, using technology to build Babel, in an attempt to become self-sufficient in the search for transcending human limitations. It is an opportunity to discuss the place of technological development in the cultural mandate of God. Jacques Ellul’s interpretation of this passage in his work “The Meaning of the city” has influenced many researchers, notably some Christians who produced a series of criticism to western technology. Is it possible for the city and technology to be redeemed? 1) Ellul’s place in philosophy and sociology of technology I will approach Jaques Ellul’s work from the point of view of a historian and technology philosopher, however still considering Ellul’s own interests, that is, sociological and theological. “The meaning of the city” (Ellul and Pardee 2011) is core to our theme here; written in 1951 (but only published in 1970 in English and 1975 in French), it is a theological counterpoint to the “Technological Society” (Ellul 1964). Ellul examined the meaning of the city throughout several biblical contexts and the progress of Yaweh’s revelation, from the first builders to the culmination of the New City of Jerusalem, which unveils in the book of Revelations. However, in “Technological Society”, from 1954, the sociologist criticized the earthly city, which, for him, is consecrated to Satan, as opposed to the city of God. The invention of the City, a technical invention in itself, brings problems that are apparently only solvable through technique. For example, the pollution generated by the city should be solved by technological inventions. In fact, throughout the interwar period, the notion of everlasting progress stumbled and gave place to a pessimistic view of technology. This idea was highlighted towards the end of World War II, for Europe had gone through two wars, scientific conceptions had been used to justify the racist ideology of Nazism, and through technology, the atomic bomb had been produced. All of that mined the confidence on the world becoming a better place through scientific and technological development. This may help explaining the predominance of pessimistic themes both in literature