ENDS AND MEANS

A discussion on the relative functions of ends & means, centered on the condition of modern man. One of the diff's between man & other creatures is that he sets himself ends or purposes & devises tools or means to achieve them. In this process, the means are subordinate to the end: the hammer serves to knock in the nail, etc. But the modern development of sci has turned man into a means to an end that is beyond him. From homo faber, Man the Maker, he is turning into homo fabricatus, Man the Made. This process is studied through an analysis of the works of G. Simmel, M. MerleauPonty, B. Williams, M. H. Papworth, H. Plessner, D. J. Boorstin, J. Henry, H. Marcuse, J. P. Sartre, J. Ellul, & Z. Brzezinski. It is concluded that this is the existential problem that modern man must solve. I. Langnas.