On the ecological crisis and its relation to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic: a reflection in light of Hans Jonas project of an ethics of responsibility

Abstract

This qualitative theoretical research, developed from bibliographic survey and analysis, intends to present a possible relationship between the existence of the health crisis of Coronavirus Covid-19, as a reflection of the ecological crisis in the light of the ethical project of the principle of responsibility proposed by Hans Jonas (1903-1993). For this, we start from the following question: to what extent is it possible to establish a relationship between the health crisis in Covid-19 as a reflection of the ecological crisis in the light of the theory of the project of the ethics of responsibility in Hans Jonas? Our hypothesis, supported by Jonas, is that the current health crisis, the result of the immense technical-scientific progress employed by economic capital, since modernity in the exploration of nature, represents a dramatic social alert, due to its destructive consequences for the future of humanity and the biosphere, which implies for the present of our “technological civilization” a duty of collective responsibility for the preservation of nature, respecting it as a being of its own dignity, and prudent use of technical and scientific knowledge, a sine qua non condition for the maintenance of all life on Earth.