Each thought and thing allied : Lewis Mumford on technics and society

135 Pages·2006·2.75 MB·English

by  Hissey, Lynne

EACH THOUGHT AND THING ALLIED: LEWIS MUMFORD ON TECHNICS AND SOCIETY
by
Lynne Hissey
B.A., Simon Fraser University, 1982.
THESIS SUBMITTED IN PAQTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF ARTS (COMMUNICATION)
in the Department
of
Communication
Lynne Hissey
@
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
September, 1986
All rights reserved. This work may not be
reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy
or other means, without permission of the author.
APPROVAL
Name: Lynne Hissey
Degree: Master of Arts (Communication)
Title of thesis: Each Thought and Thing Allied: Lewis Murnford on Technics and Society
Examining Committee :
Chairman: Dr. Martin Laba
Dr. William Leiss
Professor
Senior Supervisor
Dr. paid Heyer
Associate Professor
-
Prof. Liora Salter
Associate Professor
Dr. Stephen Straker
Assistant Professor
Department of History
University of British Columbia
External Examiner
Date Approved: 25th September, 1986
ii
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Title of ~hesis/Project/Extended Essay
Each Thought and Thing Allied: Lewis h f o r d on
Technics and Society
Author:
Lynne Hissey
( name
September 25, 1986
(date)
ABSTRACT
This thesis examines the work of Lewis Mumford (1895- ) in an attempt to assess his contribution to the
study of the social history of technology. This examination entails a consideration of Mumford's own
work as well as an effort to contextualize his thought historically. An American scholar, who is a
self-professed "generalist," Mumford has published more than twenty books, in a variety of areas, over
the last fifty years. Still, there has been no full-length critical study of his works published.
This thesis, therefore, begins with a general introduction to the range and scope of Mumford's
intellectual pursuits. This is presented in the form of two sketches - the first biographical and the second
bibliographical. The consideration of Mumford's thought on the question of technology deals with his
core works on the subject: Technics g& Civilization, Art and Technics, and The Myth of the Machine.
Three primary, overlapping themes are found to unite Mumford's work. These themes are The Critique
of Industrial Society, The Critique of False Dichotomies, and the Renewal of Life. Mumford argues that
the contemporary world is characterisec! by a series of artificial divisions. In particular, the "Machine
Age" overemphasises the "objective," technological aspects of our lives and actively devalues the
"subjective" and organic elements of existence. renewal of life demands a reunification of these
elements in a "dynamic equilibrium."
An examination of Mumford's primary sources reveals a hidden tradition of communication
thought which begins with Ralph Waldo Emerson, and continues with John Ruskin, Henry Adams,
Thorstein Veblen, and Mumford's "Master", Patrick Geddes. Mumford's debt to these thinkers is
elucidated through an examination of their major works. Several themes are found to unite these diverse
and marginal thinkers: a sense of civilization threatened, an understanding of technology as a social
construct, and a belief in the possibility of a reconstituted new world. This thesis argues that Mumford
. culminates the line of thought represented by this "hidden tradition."
The thesis concludes that while Mumford is heir to a rich tradition of thought on the question of
C
technology his own work is not without originality. His claim to originality lies in his ability as a
iii
synthesiser to unite diverse and sometimes disparate strands of thought into a coherent and unified whole.
While his ultimate project of the reconciliation and synthesis of the dichotomies of the Machine Age is
unsuccessful, this does not negate his achievement as an acute diagnostician of the modern world. It is
found that Mumford's primary conmibution to the study of technology resides in the achievement of
shifting the focus of consideration away from technology per se and toward a more extensive and
comprehensive examination of the social matrix within which technology develops and operates.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Department of Communication at SFU is a remarkable world. As my "home" for the last few years,
it has afforded me the privilege of meeting and working with a variety of people, too numerous to
mention here, who have contributed to the making of this thesis. In a very real sense, this thesis, whose
faults, naturally, lie solely with me, is a communal product.
I would like to thank my Committee: Paul Heyer, who is responsible for my "introduction" to
Mumford and who bears a good measure of responsibility for my entrance to the programme, and whose
unflagging support and encouragement far surpasses my ability to thank him adequately; Liora Salter,
who has taught me much more than she knows; and my Senior Supervisor, Bill Leiss, who, although he
sets an impossible example, has inspired many of us.
Pam Parford, Lucie Menkveld, Paulette Johnston, and earlier, Karen Gardiner, the staff of the
Communication Department, have provided cheerful assistance and generally held the horrors of
bureaucracy at bay.
My gratitude is also extended to the community of graduate students in the Department. Although
academic work is often solitary and alienating, being a part of this supportive community has kept me
human. In particular I would like to thank Pat and Roger Howard, Janice Peck, Roman Onufrijchuk,
Richard Pinet, and Jane Walker. Lynda Drury belongs in a sentence all her own, and our friendship is
not the least of the gifts I have received through my association with the Department. A group of my
ex-students and current friends have also contributed heavily to the production of this thesis. Firoozeh
Riahi, Suzanne Strutt, Catherine Witzell, and Anne Francis have, each in her own way, inspired me.
Finally, I would like to thank those people outside the Department who have, nevertheless, been
. very much with me in the production of this work. Although it is conventional to discharge others of
for one's own work, in a literal sense this thesis would not have been written without Chin
Banerjee who gave me the confidence and courage to embark on the project. Its completion owes much
to Ruth Harding, and I wish to say a very special thank you to her.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
..........................................................................................................................................................................
Approval ii
...
..........................................................................................................................................................................
Abstract
111
.........................................................................................................................................................
Acknowledgements v
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................1... ..
............................................................................................................................
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 3
..................................................................................................................
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 6
A . Literary Criticism and American Cultural History ..............................................................................6.
. ...................................................................................................................
B Architecture and Civilization 14
C. The Social History of Technology/Technology and Culture ...........................................................1. 5
. .................................................................................................................................
D The Renewal of Life 16
.
. .............................................................................................................................
E The History of the City 17
F. Political Tracts. Anthologies. and Autobiographical Works ............................................................ 18
...................................................................................................... .......................................................
NOTES 21
....................................................................................................................
TECKNICS AN3 MUMFORD 23
.......................................................................................................................................
INTRODUCTION 23
..............................................................................................................
TECHNICS AND CIVILIZATION 25
.ART .AND TECHNICS ...........................................................................................................................4..0. .
...............................................................................................................
THE MYTH OF THE MACHINE 46
..............................................................................................................
Technics and Human Development 46
....................................................................................................................................
Pentagon of Power 50
................................................................................................................................................................
NOTES 58
..........................................................................................................................................................
SOURCES 65
............................................................................................................................................
INTRODUCTION 65
RALPH WALDO/ ?ERSO N AND THE FATHERS OF AMERICAN LITERATURE ............... 65
\
................................................................................................................................................
JOHN RUSKIN 70
I
vii
1. Art and Society ......................................................................................................................................7..2..
2. Political Economy ....................................................................................................................................7..4.
i. Mammonism ...........................................................................................................................................7..5.. ..
. ........................................................................................................................
ii The Defilement of Nature 75
iii. Militarism .................................................................................................................................................7. 6
. ......................................................................................................
iv Science. Technology. and Industry 76
......................................................................................................................................
Ruskin and Mumford 78
...........................................................................................................................................
HENRY ADAMS 80
...................................................................................................................................
THORSTEIN VEBLEN 85
......................................................................................................................................
PATRICK GEDDES 89
.....................................................................................................................................................................
Life 90
.......................................................................................................................................
Works and Thought 93
......................................................................................................................................
Geddes and Mumford 97
........................................................................................................................................................
Conclusion 101
................................................................................................................................................................
Notes 103
...................................................................................................
1 EVALUATION AND CONCLUSIONS 110
............................................................. ..........................................................................................
Evaluation i 113
........................................................................................................................................................
Conclusion 118
..................................................................................................................................................................
Notes 121
......................................................................................................................................................
BIBLIOGRAPHY 122
viii
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
One occasionally encounters a thinker who looms large on the margins of conventional thought, a
figure who ranges over several disciplines and resides in none. Such thinkers, who refuse to acknowledge
disciplinary boundaries, are often exiled from the realm of acceptable academic pursuits. Lewis Mumford
is such an intellectual wanderer who has been banished to relative obscurity for the sin of excessive
scholarly peregrination. A self-proclaimed "generalist", Mumford has steadily refused to narrow his
focus, to limit his enquiries to a particular field, or to classify himself within one of the social science or
humanities disciplines (a word which itself suggests inflexible limits and rigid control).l
This thesis seeks to present and assess Lewis Mumford's works, particularly his thought on the
social history of technology. It is a premise of this thesis that since Mumford's corpus revolves around the
two fundamental issues of intersubjectivity and the relationship of people to things, he may be considered
a communication theorist
Because Mumford stands so firmly outside the traditional departments of academic thought it is
tempting to see him, sui neneris, as a lonely and heroic figure without precursors and doomed to a
posthumous oblivion without heirs. This thesis argues that Lewis Mumford culminates a line of what may
be termed a hidden tradition of communication thought which begins with Ralph Waldo Emerson, and
continues with John Ruskin, Henry Adams, Thorstein Veblen, and Mumford's "Master," Patrick Geddes.
It is suggested f~rthert,h at Mumford remains a powerful voice who, from the margins, has much to
contribute to our understanding of technology.
The remainder of this Chapter is devoted to two sketches of Mumford - the first biographical and
the second bibliographical. Chapter I1 contains the discussion of Mumford's major works in the area of
technology aqd culture. This Chapter considers Technics and Civilization, Art and Technics, a&nd' J
gvth of the Flaine in some detail. These works are presented with reference to the three dominant
L %