Article
Technological Conspiracies: Comte, Technology, and Spiritual Despotism
Critical Review
(2016)
Abstract
While there have been numerous critiques of the ideology of technology, it is useful to situate technology within both a liberal and a conspiratorial framework. The early work of Auguste Comte offers an ideal vehicle for this kind of analysis. Liberalism’s embrace of technology is developed in Comte to produce a theory of scientific and technical elites intent on reinventing society and the individual. This “technological conspiracy” reads very much like elements of a Silicon Valley manifesto describing the cyber-utopia of a near tomorrow. For these reasons Comte is relevant to a discussion of conspiracy today.
Keywords
- comte,
- conspiracies,
- internet,
- techonlogy
Disciplines
Publication Date
April 19, 2016
DOI
10.1080/08913811.2016.1167407
Citation Information
Lawrence Quill. "Technological Conspiracies: Comte, Technology, and Spiritual Despotism" Critical Review Vol. 28 Iss. 1 (2016) p. 89 - 111 ISSN: 0891-3811 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/lawrence_quill/17/