RESPONSIBILITY: THE RETURN OF ALIENATED NATURE AND THE FUTURE OF HUMAN EXISTENCE

Abstract

Today, the ecological crisis has become the most discussed topic at world summits and scientific conferences. Environmental catastrophe is now not an ephemeral threat of the future, but a clearly defined diagnosis that has already begun to become noticeable. That is why it is important to identify the causes of the ecological crisis provoked by destructive human actions. In particular, one should consider the attitude of human to nature in terms of ethics. For a long time, nature was perceived by people only as something external and only as a means of satisfying needs. This attitude became especially noticeable with the growing development of technology. And as a result, they turned out to be destructive for the environment. Therefore, in our time, nature should be considered not as an object, but as an equal subject, which is an important part not only of the present, but, most importantly, of the future common life world. However, the reason for a human’s indifferent attitude to nature lies in alienation. In the process of production, not only the worker’s own labor, but also raw materials, i.e. natural materials, become alienated to him. Even more, the worker’s own body is also alienated, becoming only a tool. Therefore, alienated nature is perceived by a person as something external and distant. That is why it is easy to use nature to achieve the goal. Thus, both the external and internal nature of a person is alienated. This is evidenced, for example, by the industry of plastic surgery, for which the body is only an object for manipulation. However, the alienation of nature has threatening consequences not only for the environment, but also for human freedom. For example, the science fiction writer A. Huxley in his most famous book «Brave new world” modeled a world in which nature is completely subjugated by science and technology. However, in this world it turns out that with the subjugation of human nature, human freedom also disappeared. Philosopher Ju. Habermas reaches similar conclusions. He writes that in the future, genetic engineering will be able to deprive even an unborn person of freedom of choice. Therefore, it is important to return the alienated nature to person. In this case, a good solution is the ethics of responsibility proposed by K.-O. Apel and developed by his followers. Based on his communicative philosophy, which means considering nature as a subject, it proves to be a method capable of helping man to re-accept and reconnect with the natural world.