The Idea
The dominant reason today is described here as scientific, technological, and television-mediated at the same time. This means that it is not a pure reason of knowledge, but a reason in which scientific authority intertwines with the power of technology and the spread of image and media. In this way, its influence becomes broad, but it does not necessarily guarantee depth of understanding. The problem, then, is not science alone, but the alliance that produces its daily hegemony.
Concise Formulation
The dominant reason today: is: scientific, technological, television-mediated reason
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This claim occupies the place of diagnosis in the book’s argument, because it describes the environment within which contemporary thought operates. The text does not discuss ideas apart from the conditions of their dissemination; rather, it links them to the sway of the medium and technology. For this reason, the idea comes to clarify that the new reason does not face a vacuum, but rather an entire system of influence that determines what is seen and believed.
Why It Matters
The importance of this claim is that it extends Arkoun’s critique from the domain of intellectual schools to the domain of opinion-making itself. It shows that hegemony may arise from the intertwining of science with media and technology, not from religious discourse alone. This helps us understand Arkoun as a critic of the structure of public knowledge, not merely of one field within it.
Brief Evidence
The text confirms that the dominant reason today is scientific-technological-television-mediated reason. It is a reason that does not rest on pure knowledge alone; rather, science intersects in it with the power of technology and the spread of image and media. Hence its effect expands, but it does not necessarily guarantee depth of understanding.
Reading Questions
- Why does the text not describe the dominant reason as scientific only?
- How do technology and media affect the form of prevailing knowledge?
Degree of Documentation
High: the claim appears in a clear location in the book’s material.