Technology and ecology. From ethics to Metaphysics, from negation of limits to the disclaimer of man

Abstract

The impact of technologies on human action is a main issue in contemporary philosophy. In this paper I point out some of the key metaphysical and ethical issues of this ongoing technological revolution, highlighting an important change of paradigm: the metaphysical issue now arises within ethics. Today’s technology, indeed, opens up new possibilities: a man overcoming it is now at least conceivable, if not fully viable. The category of dependence is thus replaced by that of auto poiesis, in order to achieve perfection and to eliminate boundaries. In this regard, the technological possibilities are annihilating the «outdated» human subject, as it is profoundly determined by its limits. On the contrary, I show how the concept of limit may be a good starting point for an ontology of difference/identity: the limit, thus, allows us to recognize the identity and the difference. In contemporary environmentalism we can observe the opposite tendency: every individual —even the human being—is functional to the preservation of life (Ecosystem), and it can be, thus, sacrificed. In this regard, the overcoming of human nature coincides with the victory of Nature, i.e., of Life: life is to be protected, at all times, whether it is human or non-human life. The main reason of this fact is our naïve concept of Nature and our conception of the human being as a dangerous agent; the awareness of a great destructive power gained, however, cannot be a sufficient reason to consider the human being a cancer on the planet. In order to reestablish a proper relationship of man with himself and with the world, we finally need to develop an adequate anthropology, which takes into account the human person’s natural and spiritual nature, its limitations and its limits.