Illusions of Freedom examines the opinions and ideas of two twentieth-century writers--Thomas Merton, a Catholic monk living in the United States, and Jacques Ellul, a French Protestant. Contemporaries, they never met or corresponded with each other, but their critique of the influence that technology was beginning to have on the human condition is strikingly similar. Both Merton and Ellul drew upon the ideas of others in formulating their worldview, to include Karl Barth, Søren Kierkegaard, Aldous Huxley, and Karl Marx. Jeffrey Shaw examines the influence that these other philosophers had on Merton and Ellul as they formulated their own ideas on technology's impact on freedom. Tracing the similarities, and in some cases the differences, between their critiques of technology and the idea that progress is always to be seen as something inherently good, one finds that they bring a unique perspective to the debate and offer readers an alternative avenue for reflecting on the meaning of technology and its impact on our lives in the twenty-first century.

"This book is an important contribution to understanding two sources of wisdom for our technological world, Thomas Merton and Jacques Ellul. Shaw carefully parses how their visions often echo and complement one another. The book also contributes to unpacking how to preserve our freedom when we are being seduced by the false technical ideals of efficiency, productivity, and utility. In sum, this book provides critical resources for preserving our full humanity."
--Phillip M. Thompson, Aquinas Center of Theology, Emory University

"Jeffrey Shaw has carefully arranged in a book what never took place in reality, a conversation between Ellul and Merton. Their agreements, which Shaw allows us to see, give us guidance in troubled times."
--Albert Borgmann, author of Real American Ethics

"In Illusions of Freedom, Jeffrey Shaw presents his reader with a thorough and finely executed comparison of the intersections in the life and thought of Thomas Merton and Jacques Ellul on issues relating to technology and the human condition. Their insights and critique, though written decades ago, raise questions as applicable today as when they wrote them, perhaps even more. . . . "
--Paul M. Pearson, Thomas Merton Center, Bellarmine University

Jeffrey M. Shaw is an adjunct professor in the General Studies department at Salve Regina University in Newport, RI. His publications are in the fields of ethics, theology, and national security. He lives on a small horse farm in Rhode Island with his wife and two daughters.