Prospects of a Christian Ethics of responsibility (Part 1): An  assessment of an American version

DE De Villiers

doi:10.4102/ve.v27i2.159

Abstract

In his book Das Prinzip Verantwortung, published in 1979, the philosopher Hans Jonas argued that all existing approaches in philosophical ethics are inadequate, because they do not effectively address the serious issues caused by the rapid expansion of modern technology. He proposed a completely new approach to ethics based on the principle of responsibility. His book – among others – inspired a number of theologians in Germany and the USA to develop their own versions of a Christian ethics of responsibility. In this article Jonas’ s version of an ethics of responsibility and the attempt of the American theologian William Schweiker to develop a Christian version of such an ethics in close proximity to Jonas’ s are critically discussed. It is pointed out that Jonas does not succeed in making out a convincing case for elevating responsibility to the fundamental principal of ethics. It is also argued that Schweiker’ s ambivalent stance in this regard does not support his claim that Christian ethics, in order to adequately respond to the serious ethical issues of our time, should be developed as an ethics of responsibility. The question “Can and should Christian ethics today be developed as ethics of responsibility?” is therefore left open.

Highlights

In his famous book After virtue: A study in moral theory, published in 1981, the philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre verbalised a growing feeling at the time that modern ethics was inadequate
Many Christian ethicists, in Roman Catholic, and in Protestant circles, have accepted MacIntyre’s proposal for an alternative ethical approach. It is the Protestant Stanley Hauerwas who has most effectively promoted a Christian version of virtue ethics, or – as he prefers to call it – an ethics of character
Two years before the publication of After virtue the philosopher Hans Jonas’s book Das Prinzip Verantwortung: Versuch einer Ethik für die technologische Zivilisation was published in Germany

Summary

INTRODUCTION

In his famous book After virtue: A study in moral theory, published in 1981, the philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre verbalised a growing feeling at the time that modern ethics was inadequate. As alternative he proposed an updated version of the virtue ethics that dominated Western philosophy for the greatest part of two millennia since Aristotle. Many Christian ethicists, in Roman Catholic, and in Protestant circles, have accepted MacIntyre’s proposal for an alternative ethical approach. One can hardly deny that today all ethics has to deal with the phenomenon of the enormous increase in, and severe lack of, moral responsibility that accompanies the expansion of human power as a result of technological development

References in this article are to the English translation of Jonas’s book

HANS JONAS AND WILLIAM SCHWEIKER

Jonas developed his ethics of responsibility in Das Prinzip Verantwortung

COMPARISON AND EVALUATION

PROSPECTS OF A CHRISTIAN ETHICS OF RESPONSIBILITY