The Imperative of Responsibility: In Search of an Ethics for the Technological AgeHans Jonas here rethinks the foundations of ethics in light of the awesome transformations wrought by modern technology: the threat of nuclear war, ecological ravage, genetic engineering, and the like. Though informed by a deep reverence for human life, Jonas's ethics is grounded not in religion but in metaphysics, in a secular doctrine that makes explicit man's duties toward himself, his posterity, and the environment. Jonas offers an assessment of practical goals under present circumstances, ending with a critique of modern utopianism. |
Contents
1 The Altered Nature of Human Action | 1 |
2 On Principles and Method | 25 |
3 Concerning Ends and Their Status in Reality | 51 |
A Theory of Responsibility | 79 |
Endangered Future and the Idea of Progress | 136 |
Common terms and phrases
Adolf Lowe already answer anthropocentric become behavior better causal cause chances claim classless comes complementarity concept concerning condition consciousness course deed Descartes determined dualism duty dynamics E. P. Wigner effects epiphenomenon Ernst Bloch eschatology ethics example existence external fact faith fear feeling force freedom function future goal idea ideal ignorabimus immanent imperative impotence individual kind knowledge least less logical mankind Marxism matter means mental merely metaphysical mind modern moral namely natural science necessity never Niels Bohr object ontological organism particular perhaps philosophy physical political positive possible precisely prediction present principle progress psychophysical parallelism psychophysical problem purpose quantum quantum-mechanical question reality reason responsibility role rule sake Schrödinger's cat sense side social society speak sphere statesman sure teleology theory things thought thought experiment true truth ultimate utopia validity wager whole