Ostalo

Ethics in a postutopian epoch

Branko Lukšić

Sažetak

After the fail of the fascist and communist utopias in Europe and
elsewhere which began by constructing new ethical systems and ended up in Gulags and police societies, the world has entered a postutopian epoch characterized by many piecemeal changes of accepted values which the author enumerates. These changes are caused mainly by communication technology, urbanisation, political and cultural pluralism, the natural sciences and their uncritical generalisations, the weakening of traditional societal and religious bonds. As a result two trends are noticeable, a diversification of value systems, on the one hand, and their standardization,
on the other. The author analyses the sociocultural context of these trends and distinguishes between the context of a value norm which is subject to alterations and the part which is not, between the subject-relatedness and subjectivity of a norm, between its relational and relative aspects. He asks whether and to what an extent these changes could be planned and channelled. The author then discusses evolutionary ethics as a backlash to the doctrines of man's infinite perfectibility and malleability through social structures and education. He deals at the end with the problem of a moral consensus in pluralist democratic societies which, in his opinion, is crucial for
the survival of democracies. He thinks that such a consensus is possible based on man's and woman's biological vulnerability, and their material, mental and spiritual needs, especially the so-called prosocial values. Having analysed in some detail the content of such a consensus the author concludes that, although it could be a viable code of conduct, the basic ethical questions of responsability, good and evil, human dignity and the absolute and unconditional nature of moral obligation cannot be adequately answered within the framework of a naturalistic, immanentistic and secular ethics.

Ključne riječi

Hrčak ID:

52530

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/52530

Datum izdavanja:

21.6.1994.

Podaci na drugim jezicima: hrvatski

Posjeta: 1.529 *