The Illusion of Freedom and Equality

Arguing that the ideology of freedom and equality today bears little resemblance to its eighteenth-century counterpart, Richard Stivers examines how these values have been radically transformed in a technological civilization. Once thought of as a kind of personal property and an aspect of the dignity of the individual, the context of freedom and equality today is technological before it is political and economic and is also now largely thought of in collective terms. Focusing on the work of Jacques Ellul and Max Weber, Stivers traces the development of freedom and equality in Enlightenment thought and American history and then proceeds to discuss their current ideologies, realities, and illusions.