Rethinking Responsibility in a Planetary Age; or, Facing the Anthropocene with Hans Jonas and Bruno Latour

Abstract

This paper interrogates the timeliness of Hans Jonas’s thought by reading it in the light of Bruno Latour’s recent work. Latour was both a close reader and one of the most incisive critics of Jonas. Both authors responded to the ecological crisis by developing a metaphysics on which to ground an ethics. In doing so, they broke with the modern principle of autonomy, as well as with dogmatic distinctions between science and metaphysics, nature and society, and facts and values. Though their heterodox work remains marginal in academic circles, it has been of enormous significance for the wider public, as is also reflected in legal developments. Indeed, I argue that we may be living in a Jonasian moment. Not only has the advent of the Anthropocene lent support to his understanding of the Earth as alive and dependent on our care, but the meaning of responsibility has expanded from legal liability to accountability to an ‘infinite responsibility’ for future generations. Still, Jonas’s pitfalls—a problematic conception of nature, authoritarian tendencies, and insufficient attention to politics and the economy—must be avoided. Latour’s work offers a powerful rejoinder and complementary ways to awaken a novel—and urgently needed—sense of responsibility.