The Imperative of Responsibility: In Search of an Ethics for the Technological Age (Paperback)

~ (Author) "All previous ethics-whether in the form of issuing direct enjoinders to do and not to do certain things, or in the form of defining principles..." (more)
Key Phrases: psychophysical problem, incompatibility argument, previous ethics, Third World (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Hans 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.

Language Notes

Text: English, German (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details Paperback: 263 pages Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (October 15, 1985) Language: English ISBN-10: 0226405974 ISBN-13: 978-0226405971 Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #532,078 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

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First Sentence:
All previous ethics-whether in the form of issuing direct enjoinders to do and not to do certain things, or in the form of defining principles for such enjoinders, or in the form of establishing the ground of obligation for obeying such principles-had these interconnected tacit premises in common: that the human condition, determined by the nature of man and the nature of things was given once for all; that the human good on that basis was readily determinable; and that the range of human action and therefore responsibility was narrowly circumscribed. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
psychophysical problem, incompatibility argument, previous ethics, trigger principle, former ethics, constancy laws

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Third World

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 13 books:

• Das Kapital, Gateway Edition (Skeptical Reader Series) by Karl Marx on page 193, and Back Matter
• The Phenomenon of Life: Toward a Philosophical Biology (SPEP) by Hans Jonas in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
• Lord Jim (Everyman's Library) by Joseph Conrad in Back Matter
• Process and Reality (Gifford Lectures Delivered in the University of Edinburgh During the Session 1927-28) by Alfred North Whitehead in Back Matter
• Lord Jim (Oxford Bookworms) by Joseph Conrad in Back Matter

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92 books cite this book:

• The Course of Recognition (Institute for Human Sciences Vienna Lecture Series) by Paul Ricoeur in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
• Science, Seeds and Cyborgs: Biotechnology and the Appropriation of Life by Finn Bowring in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
• Humanity Before God: Contemporary Faces of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Ethics by William Schweiker on page 107, and page 214
• Theological Ethics and Global Dynamics: In the Time of Many Worlds by William Schweiker on page 22, and Back Matter
• Management and Information Systems in Human Services: Implications for the Distribution of Authority and Decision Making (Haworth Series in Social Work Practice) by Richard K Caputo on page 150, and Back Matter

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	86% buy the item featured on this page: The Imperative of Responsibility: In Search of an Ethics for the Technological Age 5.0 out of 5 stars (5) $15.53
	4% buy The Phenomenon of Life: Toward a Philosophical Biology (SPEP) 4.0 out of 5 stars (2) $28.17
	4% buy The Gnostic Religion 4.1 out of 5 stars (18) $21.60
	3% buy Mortality and Morality: A Search for Good After Auschwitz (SPEP) 5.0 out of 5 stars (1) $29.95

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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews 5 star:  (5) 4 star:    (0) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 5.0 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 8 of 8 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Beyond "Medical" ethics, July 4, 2000 By  Thrash Jazz Assassin (Tempe, Az. US) - See all my reviews I just wanted to insure that anyone coming across the previous review wasn't left with the impression that this book is applicable to medical ethics only. What Jonas is attempting here is broad in scope and deeply relevant. His basic thesis is that all previous ethics was based on a certain image of "man" that no longer holds. With the availability of power that technology has unleashed in the last century, our understanding of man, his place in the cosmos, and his power to effect both the present and the future has changed radically-- but our ethical theories have remained tied to an older image of a mankind much more limited in the effects of its actions. His thesis has broad and deep implications in areas ranging from medical ethics to political ideologies... there is a thought-provoking critique of "Utopianism" and its expressions both in political ideologies and our relationship to technological praxis. This critique alone is worth purchasing and reading the book. He even enters into interesting discussions such as the metaphysics of the "mind-body" problem and its ethical implications. Highly recommended reading, with a wonderful (and rare) combination of Germanic thoroughness and the clarity and elegance more typical of what comes out of English and American philosophical traditions. 7 of 7 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars exactly describes THE problem of modern life, June 10, 2002 By  C. Brown (Evanston, IL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    I found a copy of this slim book while rummaging through dozens being given away from the library of a deceased professor. It looked interesting but little did I realize that it contained the most precise description of the problem of modern times: how should we live, how should we decide about "progress" such that we will best assure the future of man? Jonas makes a very powerful argument that extreme caution is advised and wrestles in detail with the difficulties of restraining ourselves when technology beckons us with the promise of anything and everything we want. The early part of the book is demanding as it is an intricate examination of logic as he defines his terms. Then there is a transition to the things which I think we all have on our minds as we race along with technological progress. While the ethics passed down to us from ancient times deal with how we treat each other as individuals, they assume man, as a creature living in his own world, will continue on regardless of setbacks in one or another situation, incapable of threatening his own essence or the natural world around him. Technology has altered this and placed such power in our hands that we have the fate of the future of man in our hands. Jonas points to genetic alteration and behavioral modification as areas in which we must act with the utmost restraint and makes a strong case for what we in the present owe to those who will live long after we are gone, unless we make it impossible for them to even be as we are. Page after page I would turn to find a new heading that made me exclaim "Aha! I was hoping he would talk about this!" He discusses the contrast between the excesses of consumerism and the widespread occurance of poverty and deprivation, warning that something must happen to lessen the divide while at the same time constraining the depredation of the natural world. He accurately points out the tightening squeeze where the system of production and endless growth is running up against limits, yet we have no idea how to jump from the squirrel cage. When you hear people belittle such talk as "gloom and doom", ask them how the economy could survive with a flat stock market. Just as there is no perpetual motion machine, so there is no endless growth, but we deny this daily in the way we live. Will we be able to carefully decide on such things as genetic manipulation in humans or will it take on a "progress" of its own in which the layman stands speechless before the decisions of experts? Is Capitalism or Marxism the best approach to these issues? Capitalism says press on with all deliberate speed. While we can almost all agree that Marxism, as implemented, has been swept under, Jonas discusses the foundations of Marxism and its weaknesses, while at the same time showing that in some respects it has some creditable points to make. Jonas wrote the book when he was 80, with the wisdom of age that is so little valued these days. This is a must read, the sooner the better. We owe it to the future to be obsessed with the possible results of what we do with our unprecedented power. We cannot evade the imperative of resposibility. 6 of 6 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars An extremely important book addressing medical ethics, January 14, 1999 By A Customer And it's truly brilliant! In attempting to create a modern groundwork for ethics, it picks up where Immanual Kant left off. Although this book is huge in Europe, it has yet to be properly appreciated in this country. The writing is beautiful, although it helps to have serious philsophical training.		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars Tractatus technologico-ethicus While sitting in a surprisingly interesting and stimulating conference on corporate social responsibilities in China (including a lecture by the man who singlehandedly exposes... Read more Published 17 months ago by H. Schneider 5.0 out of 5 stars Jonas' new ethics This American version of Hans Jonas' seminal book on ethics is an abridgement of the original German but it captures the gist of the author and its powerful message. Read more Published on January 12, 2005 by MENDO Castro HENRIQUES Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Paperback: 263 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (October 15, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226405974
• ISBN-13: 978-0226405971
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #532,078 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beyond "Medical" ethics, July 4, 2000

By	Thrash Jazz Assassin (Tempe, Az. US) - See all my reviews

I just wanted to insure that anyone coming across the previous review wasn't left with the impression that this book is applicable to medical ethics only. What Jonas is attempting here is broad in scope and deeply relevant. His basic thesis is that all previous ethics was based on a certain image of "man" that no longer holds. With the availability of power that technology has unleashed in the last century, our understanding of man, his place in the cosmos, and his power to effect both the present and the future has changed radically-- but our ethical theories have remained tied to an older image of a mankind much more limited in the effects of its actions.

His thesis has broad and deep implications in areas ranging from medical ethics to political ideologies... there is a thought-provoking critique of "Utopianism" and its expressions both in political ideologies and our relationship to technological praxis. This critique alone is worth purchasing and reading the book. He even enters into interesting discussions such as the metaphysics of the "mind-body" problem and its ethical implications.

Highly recommended reading, with a wonderful (and rare) combination of Germanic thoroughness and the clarity and elegance more typical of what comes out of English and American philosophical traditions.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars exactly describes THE problem of modern life, June 10, 2002

By	C. Brown (Evanston, IL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I found a copy of this slim book while rummaging through dozens being given away from the library of a deceased professor. It looked interesting but little did I realize that it contained the most precise description of the problem of modern times: how should we live, how should we decide about "progress" such that we will best assure the future of man? Jonas makes a very powerful argument that extreme caution is advised and wrestles in detail with the difficulties of restraining ourselves when technology beckons us with the promise of anything and everything we want. The early part of the book is demanding as it is an intricate examination of logic as he defines his terms. Then there is a transition to the things which I think we all have on our minds as we race along with technological progress. While the ethics passed down to us from ancient times deal with how we treat each other as individuals, they assume man, as a creature living in his own world, will continue on regardless of setbacks in one or another situation, incapable of threatening his own essence or the natural world around him. Technology has altered this and placed such power in our hands that we have the fate of the future of man in our hands. Jonas points to genetic alteration and behavioral modification as areas in which we must act with the utmost restraint and makes a strong case for what we in the present owe to those who will live long after we are gone, unless we make it impossible for them to even be as we are. Page after page I would turn to find a new heading that made me exclaim "Aha! I was hoping he would talk about this!" He discusses the contrast between the excesses of consumerism and the widespread occurance of poverty and deprivation, warning that something must happen to lessen the divide while at the same time constraining the depredation of the natural world. He accurately points out the tightening squeeze where the system of production and endless growth is running up against limits, yet we have no idea how to jump from the squirrel cage. When you hear people belittle such talk as "gloom and doom", ask them how the economy could survive with a flat stock market. Just as there is no perpetual motion machine, so there is no endless growth, but we deny this daily in the way we live. Will we be able to carefully decide on such things as genetic manipulation in humans or will it take on a "progress" of its own in which the layman stands speechless before the decisions of experts? Is Capitalism or Marxism the best approach to these issues? Capitalism says press on with all deliberate speed. While we can almost all agree that Marxism, as implemented, has been swept under, Jonas discusses the foundations of Marxism and its weaknesses, while at the same time showing that in some respects it has some creditable points to make. Jonas wrote the book when he was 80, with the wisdom of age that is so little valued these days. This is a must read, the sooner the better. We owe it to the future to be obsessed with the possible results of what we do with our unprecedented power. We cannot evade the imperative of resposibility.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An extremely important book addressing medical ethics, January 14, 1999

By A Customer

And it's truly brilliant! In attempting to create a modern groundwork for ethics, it picks up where Immanual Kant left off. Although this book is huge in Europe, it has yet to be properly appreciated in this country. The writing is beautiful, although it helps to have serious philsophical training.