Prospects of a Christian ethics of responsibility (Part 2): an assessment of three German versions

De Villiers

doi:10.4102/ve.v28i1.99

Abstract

In the article three versions of a Christian ethics of responsibility, developed by three German theologians, Wolfgang Huber , Johannes Fischer and Ulrich Körtner , in response to the philosopher Hans Jonas’ s introduction of the ethics of responsibility as a completely new and much needed ethical approach in the technological age, are analysed and assessed. The purpose is to assess the prospects of a Christian ethics of responsibility. An analysis shows the disparate nature of the three versions, but also reveals a number of ways in which responsibility can and should fundamentally qualify contemporary Christian ethics. The conclusion is therefore that the prospects of a Christian ethics are much more promising than a superficial comparison of the three disparate versions of such an ethics would suggest.

Highlights

The theme of a Christian ethics of responsibility is not new
If Huber is right in asserting that the responsibility to make reflexive use of principles is a condition for adequate ethics in our time, he has identified yet another way in which responsibility should mark contemporary ethics fundamentally, as well as another reason for depicting contemporary Christian ethics as “ethics of responsibility” in as far as it recognises this responsibility
If Christian ethics steers away from following Hans Jonas’ example too closely in elevating responsibility to a substantive principle and reducing itself to a future ethics, and rather takes its cue from the ways – indicated in this article – in which responsibility should stamp contemporary ethics in a fundamental way, I am of the opinion that the prospects of a Christian ethics of responsibility are quite promising

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The theme of a Christian ethics of responsibility is not new. Renowned theologians like Dietrich Bonhoeffer and H Richard Niebuhr wrote extensively on Christian responsibility in the middle decades of the twentieth century and presented their own versions of a Christian ethics of responsibility. Jonas’s attempt to elevate responsibility to the substantive normative principle of the new ethics he proposes, is problematic He argues convincingly that the prospective responsibility for the survival of humankind should receive far more emphasis in contemporary ethics, his plea for the complete transformation of ethics into future ethics is one-sided. This article critically discusses the conceptions of a Christian ethics of responsibility of three theologians who have published mostly in German: Wolfgang Huber from Germany, Johannes Fischer from Switzerland and Ulrich Körtner from Austria[3] Their versions of such an ethics are quite disparate, they have in common that they maintain a greater critical distance to Jonas’s view than Schweiker.

Fischer first wrote an article

COMPARISON AND EVALUATION OF THE THREE VERSIONS

CONCLUSION