Hans Jonas

Life, Technology and the Horizons of Responsibility

Lewis Coyne (University of Exeter, UK)

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English

Bloomsbury Academic
21 April 2022

Phenomenology & Existentialism; Philosophy: metaphysics & ontology; Ethics & moral philosophy; Impact of science & technology on society

Hans Jonas (1903–1993) was one of the most important German-Jewish philosophers of the 20th century. A student of Martin Heidegger and close friend of Hannah Arendt, Jonas advanced the fields of phenomenology and practical ethics in ways that are just beginning to be appreciated in the English-speaking world. Drawing here on unpublished and newly translated material, Lewis Coyne brings together for the first time in English Jonas’s philosophy of life, ethic of responsibility, political theory, philosophy of technology and bioethics.

In Hans Jonas: Life, Technology and the Horizons of Responsibility, Coyne argues that the aim of Jonas’s philosophy is to confront three critical issues inherent to modernity: nihilism, the ecological crisis and the transhumanist drive to biotechnologically enhance human beings. While these might at first appear disparate, for Jonas all follow from the materialist turn taken by Western thought from the 17th century onwards, and he therefore seeks to tackle all three issues at their collective point of origin. This book explores how Jonas develops a new categorical imperative of responsibility on the basis of an ontology that does justice to the purposefulness and dignity of life: to act in a way that does not compromise the future of humanity on earth.

Reflecting on this, as we face a potential future of ecological and societal collapse, Coyne forcefully demonstrates the urgency of Jonas’s demand that humanity accept its newfound responsibility as the ‘shepherd of beings’.

By: Lewis Coyne (University of Exeter UK)
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781350216662
ISBN 10: 1350216666
Pages: 248
Publication Date: 21 April 2022
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Lewis Coyne is Associate Lecturer and Honorary Research Fellow in Philosophy at the University of Exeter, UK, and co-editor of Moral Enhancement: Critical Perspectives (2018).

Reviews for Hans Jonas: Life, Technology and the Horizons of Responsibility

Coyne has delivered an ambitious account of the multiple strains of Jonas’s thinking. While it is clear that Coyne deems several portions of Jonas’s thought as offering less than satisfactory answers, he also demonstrates that Jonas’s thinking does impressively counteract the most dangerous tendencies of modern Gnosticism by reminding us of the fateful balance we hold with nature. * Review of Metaphysics * Well known within the areas of environmental philosophy, theology and bioethics, Jonas's overall contribution to philosophy has been somewhat overlooked in the English speaking world. Coyne offers an excellent comprehensive analysis of Jonas's contribution to philosophy, presenting his philosophy as a systematic and unified corpus of thought. A much welcome addition to the literature on this fascinating thinker, Coyne's book is essential reading for students and scholars wishing to familiarise themselves with Hans Jonas’s philosophy. * Darian Meacham, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Maastricht University, The Netherlands *