The power as subjectivity: technology and the new demands of responsibility

Abstract

This article aims to demonstrate how, for Hans Jonas, power has become a central element of human subjectivity in modernity. This is realized in the characterization of our society as a technological civilization, particularly concerning the presumed reform of the human being, which has become a central element of the betterist and transhumanist project. From this point, we will show how Jonas replaces power with responsibility, establishing it as the central subjective element when associated with the idea of authenticity in human life. Addressing the ethical demands tied to responsibility in the advancement of technological powers thus also requires considering their impact on the processes of subjectivation, which, in the end, are linked to the very idea of a “human” - or “human condition”.