Programska knjižnica 9. Lošinjskih dana bioetike - Hrvatsko ...

gorije svetog koju je znanstveno prosvjetiteljstvo veoma temeljito razorilo
imati neku etiku koja može obuzdati one ekstremne snage što ih imamo
danas i koje smo gotovo prisiljeni stalno povećavati i koristiti?
THE SACRED AND THE PROFANE
IN THE CONTEXT OF BIOETHICAL ISSUES
Biosystem Balance Disorder
in the Functioning of Ecotoxicology of Power
Methodologically, the basis for integrative bioethics is a postulate
that, apart from the factual and technical, there is also the orientational
knowledge. The governing knowledge (Orientierungswissen), to which bioethics
aspires, is a result of crossing of different perspectives; scientific,
philosophical, theological, cultural, worldview and others, which in turn
create pluriperspective horizons for the consideration of certain issues.
The facts indicate that toxication causes a negative effect on survival
and quality of life of living beings, including humans. The etymology of
the term ‘bioethics’ refers to the responsibility towards bios – the living.
This implies a certain ontological foundation. However, the attitude that
the biosystem as a compositum of the living can bind will to morality is not
evident. One of the characteristics of the pre-modern world, as well as a
trait of traditional and small societies, is the understanding of the biosystem
as an area of the sacred. As opposed to that, the instrumental rationality of
the Modern Age makes the material world profane. Cartesian dualism and
Baconian instrumentalism regard nature as a space void of purpose – the
only principle in dealing with it is to achieve the only possible human purpose.
The nature turns from a subject to an object. The consequence of this
is the Disenchantment (Entzauberung) of the World (M. Weber) and its desacralization
(Entgötterung) (K. Jaspers). Cosmos made of purposefulness
and consecratedness gets neutralized to the point of profane, mechanic,
which can be manipulated according to one’s will.
H. Jonas, seeking to establish bioethical responsibility for the future, reactualises
the question of the sacred: Is it possible, without re-establishing
the category of sacred thoroughly destroyed by the scientific enlightenment,
to have an ethics that can rein in those extreme forces which are present
today and which we are almost forced to constantly increase and use?
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