Responsibility principle in Hans Jonas as a proposal of ethics for a sustainable society

Abstract

The objective of the text is to present the responsibility principle in Hans Jonas as a proposal for ethics for a sustainable society. Amid the destructive effects on nature and environmental problems resulting from technical-scientific activity, the principle of responsibility is proposed as a new content of ethics that makes rethinking human action towards nature, in order to broaden moral considerations beyond the stamp anthropocentric and the immediate circle of action here and now, making us reflect on the care for other nonhuman forms of life, the global effects and consequences of human action and the next generations. In this way, it is essential to expand the time horizon so that the concern with the future is clear. These characteristics reveal the importance of the ethics of responsibility in the context of environmental ethics, renewing the theory of moral philosophy and providing support for the notion of sustainability as a value for today's society. Thus, the article represents a contribution to the current debate on environmental ethics in environmental sciences, from an interdisciplinary perspective.