1,856 research outputs found
O Ser da técnica conforme Martin Heidegger e Jacques Ellul
No full textDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas. Programa de Pós-Graduação em FilosofiaMartin Heidegger e Jacques Ellul sao geralmente considerados como pensadores que entenderam a tecnica moderna como uma entidade autonoma com relacao a vida humana, por mais que o homem seja o criador das tecnicas e artefatos. Heidegger parece ver na tecnica moderna uma sorte de destino a que o homem nao pode escapar. Ellul denuncia o #\fenomeno tecnico. como uma realidade que, uma vez instalada, escapa ao controle humano. Este trabalho analisa as ideias de ambos os pensadores e mostra que, no entanto, nao e facil atribuir a nenhum deles a crenca num determinismo tecnologico. Esperamos assim contribuir, nao apenas para a melhor compreensao desses autores, como tambem para saber ate que ponto somos donos da nossa vida ao vivermos num mundo quase totalmente tecnologico
A Dynamic Size Distributed Program Image Cache for Wireless Sensor Networks
No full textReprogramming node software over-the-air is an essential requirement in many wireless sensor network applications due to the inaccessibility of the deployed sensor nodes. Transmitting whole software images consumes a high amount of energy in proportion to updates, especially when they are small in size. Incremental updates have addressed this; however introduce the potential of a sensor node becoming out of sync when it misses an update. In this paper we present a dynamic size distributed program image cache that provides increased efficiency in reprogramming out of sync nodes and multi-purpose wireless sensor networks
Technocratic Consciousness in the Thought of Jacques Ellul
No full textDegree awarded: Ph.D. Politics. The Catholic University of AmericaThe dissertation is about Jacques Ellul, a French philosopher and theologian of the second half of the twentieth century. A critic of modernity, Ellul focuses on the ill effects of our obsession with technology, leading to its idolization. The technological development has created a new type of consciousness in the modern person, a technocratic consciousness, which Ellul calls "technique." Technique leads to spiritual degradation, replacing fundamental human values with a single value of efficiency. The main target of Ellul's criticism is the modern state, which is the fullest expression of technique's social aspect. It is through the state, pervasive and omnipresent, that technique controls the totality of human life, leading to complete and inescapable objectification, entrapment, and subjugation of the human being. A Christian theologian, Ellul hopes to solve this crisis by showing the way to personal spiritual growth and thereby helping restore our autonomy from technique. Although his solution is to the point, Ellul fails to demonstrate how such personal transformation translates into social change. Consequently, he lacks a true social theory. The dissertation offers a friendly critique of Ellul's theory by focusing on his dialectical method. Considering himself a dialectician, Ellul does not see that dialectic operates as an organizing principle of reality reflecting contradictions within his target social phenomena, such as the state, and thus revealing their potential for transformation. If he had seen that, he would not have limited his solution to personal spiritual growth but rather would have put it in a broader context of social change. Influenced by anarchism, Ellul is distrustful of conventional politics. His proposed social action is nonviolent direct action similar to the movements led by Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. As a result of such action, desacralizing technique and the state, Ellul hopes to form an alternative social organization, resembling a mutualist federation envisioned by classical anarchism. His theory foresees environmental and anti-globalization movements as well as other popular movements for democratization and transfer of power from the state to civil society.Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-20T16:22:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1
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Field deployment of low power high performance nodes
No full textWhen deploying a sensor network into a harsh environment the need for high levels of fault tolerance and maximising the usage of available resources become extremely important. This has been achieved by implementing a highly fault tolerant system based on our Gumsense boards. These combine an ARM-based Linux system with an MSP430 for sensing and power-control. It also allows for dynamic schedule modifications based on the available power and can be synchronised with other systems without relying on direct communication, autonomous behaviour in case of total communications failure is also supported. A deployment on Vatnajökull, the largest ice-cap in Europe, has provided a longterm test for the systems and revealed strengths and weaknesses in the design decisions
Is Historical Cost Accounting a Panacea? Market Stress, Incentive Distortions, and Gains Trading
No full textAccounting rules, through their interactions with capital regulations, affect financial
institutions’ trading behavior. The insurance industry provides a laboratory to explore
these interactions: life insurers have greater flexibility than property and casualty
insurers to hold speculative-grade assets at historical cost, and the degree to which
life insurers recognize market values differs across U.S. states. During the financial
crisis, insurers facing a lesser degree of market value recognition are less likely to sell
downgraded asset-backed securities. To improve their capital positions, these insurers
disproportionately resort to gains trading, selectively selling otherwise unrelated
bonds with high unrealized gains, transmitting shocks across markets
Hombre, Dios e Historia segun Jacques Ellul
No full textInternational audienceEste artículo se propone explicitar los vínculos entre el pensamiento teológico, sociológico y político de Jacques Ellul, a través del estudio de su concepción de la historia. A partir de su comentario del « Eclesiastés », mostraremos que el pensamiento elluliano distingue tres temporalidades : la del hombre, la de la naturaleza y la de Dios. Ellul descarta la idea de progreso intrínseco del hombre y de su historia, y le otorga el origen y la finalidad de la historia a la trascendencia. Consecuentemente, según su relación con la trascendencia, el hombre podrá o no inscribirse en el sentido de la historia. Esto implica no solo una valorización del presente, sino que también una radicalización de la acción política. Quitándole al hombre su responsabilidad histórica final, Ellul propone acercarse de la anarquía como doctrina política luchando así radicalmente contra todo poder y toda dominación
The Role of Risk Management in Corporate Governance
No full textFailures of banks' governance and risk management functions have been identified as key causes of the 2007–2008 financial crisis. This article reviews the empirical literature that investigates the relationship between governance structures and risk management functions as well as their impact on banks' risk taking and performance. I first discuss risk management's responsibilities and relevance for a value-maximizing bank. The business nature of financial institutions and their funding structure, together with explicit and implicit government guarantees, set them apart from nonfinancial firms. I argue that conventional governance structures alone may be unable to restrain risk taking in banks and thus the presence of a strong and independent risk management function becomes necessary to monitor and control enterprise-wide risk exposures. Recent evidence shows that a strong risk management function, compatible with the appropriate business model and culture, can restrain tail risk exposures at financial institutions and promote long-term value maximization
Jacques Ellul. Propagandes
No full textA. G. Jacques Ellul. Propagandes. In: Communications, 2, 1963. pp. 233-235
The Meaning of Subjectivity in a Technological Society: Jacues Ellul\u27s View of man as Dialogic Agent
No full textThis work is a study of Jacques Ellul\u27s analysis of the problem of freedom in a technological society. It is my argument that Ellul\u27s views on the significance of human freedom in a technological society have not been adequately understood because the dialectical character of his thought has not been appreciated. The first chapter of the work shows that the problem of freedom in a technological society is the central theme of Ellul\u27s thought. Ellul has thus developed a conception of knowledge that is open to freedom. Middle range theory provides for a level of generality that lies mid-way between a metaphysical conception of the human condition and a mere factual description that Ellul designates as fact-worship realism. The second chapter is a biographical study of the origins of Ellul\u27s views on modern technique and the significance of human freedom in a technological society. Chapter three provides a description of Ellul\u27s dialectic and its significance for his analysis of the technological society and the meaning of freedom in a technological society. Ellul\u27s dialectic is existential, one that is directed toward making a fundamental decision in the face of technological necessity. Chapter four considers the relation of technological development to the development of human freedom. Ellul argues that technological development has historically been an expression of human freedom with respect to the natural environment. When technological development reached the stage at which technical means formed a system, what Ellul calls \u27technique\u27, it became a source of determination. The meaning of human freedom has changed so that now human freedom must be expressed as an opposition to technique. The fifth and final chapter examines Ellul\u27s critique of the theory of planned freedom developed by Karl Mannheim. Ellul rejects Mannheim\u27s theory as an example of a political illusion. It provides an illusory freedom in the face of technological necessity. While there is, in Ellul\u27s view, no apparent resolution to the general problem of freedom in a technological society, it remains for individuals to create an individual lifestyle that is expressive of their freedom
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