Heurística do temor: técnica e responsabilidade em Hans Jonas

Abstract

The theory of Hans Jonas is based on the need for a new ethical approach to technology, considering that the traditional views on ethics were all linked to the person, and on today's scenario the man has been seen as a mere technical object. There is an urgent need to think straight about technological progress, since it puts at risk the authenticity of human life. For the object of this research, the method will rely on descriptive analysis, and the work presents itself divided into three parts. The first chapter shows some references about the premodern technique, which has determined and predictable goals; and the modern technique, elucidating its relation to a contemporary conception of science, and especially its unpredictability, which can end up with both beneficial or undesirable consequences. The second chapter will focus on a "heuristic of fear", a concept proposed by Jonas that seeks through the feeling of fear an attitude of prudence in the face of technological innovations, based on avoiding unfavourable prognosis, laying its pillars on scientific, imagery hypotheses or previews. At the beginning of the third chapter, Kantian ethics and Jonah's ethics will be briefly compared, and then, it is shown how intergenerational responsibility and continuity of life are important. The result of the present research elucidates the importance of bad prognosis, due to the heuristic of fear, considering that this resource leads to acting with responsibility and,consequently, to the preservation of human and extrahuman life (sic).