Life, Liberty and
the Defense of
Dignity
The Challenge for Bioethics
Leon R. Kass M.D. |
ENCOUNTER BOOKS
SAN FRANCISCOCHAPTER ONE
The Problem of Technology
and Liberal Democracy
ol
)New and novel also isthe thing t names: indus
trial seale proceses and products offering power to alter and con
‘rol the phenomena of ife—in plant, in animale and, increasing’,
also inhuman beings, But while the word may be new, the idea of
bosechnology is od, and o ae the motives behind i eis central
to the modern humanistic vision, frst conjured inthe seventeenth
cenury, that would bring the pursuit of knowledge into firm mar-
riage with the aspiration of humankind forthe conquest of disease,
the rl of suffering and te prolongation of lie
‘As have aleady said, biotechnology today flourshesespe-
cially in iberal democracies. es practice takes advantage of thei
freedoms; ts products serve the needs of muleudes. Yet as Iwill
argue from start 0 ish in thi book, biotechnology and the sc-
aceon which it rest are proving to hea growing problem fr lib-
tral democracies, both in practice and in thought. To understand
‘why his might be s,s ello place biotechnology in is anges
Content and o consider more generally the problem of technology
ara whole
‘Aitepeing an overview of he problem of tchnology is daunt-
ing, For one thing, the topics enormous: technology is everywhere
ina shiking varery of guises, from fash toils o food processor,
from automobiles to artificial organs, feom cell phones to smart
‘bombs. Second, given this wat heteroenciy, it eems foolish etry
to identify the problem of technology, alone how it relates co ib
cal democracy, a hefty subject by itself. Tir, there i the embar-
‘assent of apparent hypocrisy how cana man wih tavels hither
and yon by airplane and automobile, to delves leetures produced30 Uf Liberty andthe Defense of Digi
‘on computer and ae prints rendered legible and auibethrough
cveplasses and microphone, and now made readable through the
latest printing and publishing techniques, have the efrontery to
speak about technology as a problem? Finally there isthe mater
‘of my limited competence; though Ihave worsed for more than
‘shiny years about the meaning of biomedical technologies, [remain
, laegely ignorant of other technological areas and, I cones, Lhave
not often tried co think abou the problem af echaology wile
Sill, one mast make the atemp, fr the stakes ate high, For
ome suspects tha technology, despite its great diversity, eemains in
some sense “a whole," whose aggregate significance for human ile
cannot be exaggerated, We have let ou innocence about technol
‘ogy in recent decades, and hence we ned all the more to ty #0
tanderstand it
Probably the most common view of “the peublem of rchnol-
‘ogy is something like this: technology isthe sum otal of human
and methods, devised by human beings to control our env-
at fr our own benef. Because it is esentlly instrament,
technology i self morally neva, wsable for both good aj
‘There ae, ofcourse, dangers of abuse and misuse of technology,
but these appear tobe problems nt of technology bur of human
users, o be addeessed by morality in general, And, besides abuse
and misuse, there isa genuine problem of techaology sel th unin
tended and undesired consequences ang from ts proper se. Thus,
the problem of technology cas be deal with om onesie, by tech
‘ology assessment and careful regulation (to handle side effects and
misuse) and on the othe sid, by good wil compassion, and the
Jove of humaniy co preven abuse). This combination will enable
sto solve the problems technology creates without sacrificing its
ihe frie
‘This view, contends mach too simple t holds too narow
an understanding ofthe nature of rchnology, o0 shallow a view
‘ofthe difculies it produces, and too opimisic view of ou abi
fry wo deal with them—not east because this vsion itll infected
With the problem of technology. That at lest i what I will now
endeavor to show.
The Probe of Tacoma nd Liberal Democracy
What Is Technology?
‘We mst begin by ving ro understand what echnoogy is The ern
ite singulry unl according ro the Oxford Engl Dic
tionary it orginal English meaning, dating back to the aly se
vceath cota, was “a dcoure ce treatise [at ogee 08
ftvorthe art” og aa, "th cent dy a logos] ofthe pea:
tealoc indus are” Axed meaning Meats echoology 2
“nl nomen he emily sph
fegee—of «parle at Only in th intent earry was the
meaning aur th praca are demuele, ake colle
tity “Hi technology const of mening, cut canoes, making
ade weapons (1264)
“Thterm has Greck rots: fecne, mening art especialy he
ofl cally eathr shan the Bea, that earpenty and hoe.
teaking athe than por aed dane and logo nesting ten
lat speech or dscurive reason. Ba the Greeks didnot have the
compound iecboogo. Asa 2 en lhe loses they cero
“yc ston was nt an acount about ata logos of ene
but nar of eaking Rhetore, the ato permate speech, was
inde tee oflogs and in he Soph ew a means of ton
ing politcal le fre of the need for force. (One could Think,
get vey far inundestanding the difference between the scent
eck pols and te modern nation-state by beginning wth snd
thinking through the difeencebrwoen ecology understood 3
theorc and chology undersced tational art and nds)
il ac and pech ar tnately elated. Bot ate mai
tation of an atonal, of the fact that ane the animal a
ing logs the rational or esonng animal Human erat unlike the
productive actives of animals not spontaneoe oii
Trtvales elteratig cxelatng.odeingtinking, panne —
allmanifestions of laos. The conetion was observed sucinly
{by Arnot: tec, he sii disposition or bait of makings
\
X
contrasted with doing) involving tue reasoaing (logos)? All artfl
raking has a manual element, ro be sue] but to be eal technical
ie must be guided by mind, know-how, expertise is chis mental
\\ and rational element that makes the various arts eminently teach-(a) ‘Life, Liberty and the Defense of Digity
‘ble—through various “how40” guides and manval. (About the
Alispositin wo make— tats, why human beings want vo make
wil speak shor) Following up these cues, one might thik that
technology is the sum ofthe products of craft and industry, and,
even moe, the sum of the knowhow shill and other devies for
thei production and use.
But this i, at best, a pata view. Technology, expecially mod
ern technology, occupies itself not oaly with dhe bringing into-being
fof machine and role and other artifacts. Je i centrally involved in
the harnessing of power and enegy—thernal,hydeoelec, chen
eal, solar, stomic. The dling fr ol, the damming of rivers the
‘pling of atoms provide ot objects of art hut an undifierentiated
ready resource forall sors of himan aciites, both in war and in
Peace. Indeed, aeeording ro Heidegger, this aspect of modern tech
nology is essential and decisive. Modem technology les bring
ing forth of objects chan a setting upon, «challenging fort, »
‘demanding of aaure tha is conceal In and energies be
released and ordre as standing reserves, avalable and wansfoemable
focany muliiude of purposes? Not the loom or the plow, but the
‘ol storage tank or the sel mill or the dynamo, is the emblem of
moder technology
‘et this too, does not go far enough. For technology and ech-
sigue are not today limited to external and physial nati)
nology now works dizetly on #
“There is burgeoning biomedical technology, to this pont largely ar
nese by che art of healing, but inthe fare usable als foe genetic
‘engineering and the lke. There is psychological technology, fom
various techniques of psychotherapy to psychopharmacology. There
are abundant techniques of edvction, communication and enter
tainment; techniques of social organization and engineering (for
example the army and the police; echniques of management (he
factory othe boardroom) techniques of inspection and regulation;
techniques of sling and buying, learning and rearing, dating and
mating, biting and dying, and even—God help sof gre. In
modern mes, as Jacques Fla has persuasively argued he tecni-
‘als ubiquitous, much wider and deeper than the mechanical oF
the energetic. For him (as for Heidegger), eechaology-i an entre
way of being inthe world, a social phenomenon more than a merely
‘The Prem ofTecmoloy ond Libel Democracy 33
imatesial one characterize bythe effort, through rational analysis,
‘methodical artfulness and correlative organization, to orde all
‘epee of our world toward efficiency, ease and contol—to achieve
the fullest control atthe highest elfiieny arth leas possible cost
and rouble Technology compvises organization and shedling no
Tess than machinery and fuel, concepts and methods no les than
physical processes, Jn short, it isa way of thinking an
And felng, a way of standing in nd rows the world, Technol-
‘gy; in its fll meaning, isthe dxposition rationally co order and
Position rational mastery, whose problem we hope to dacover.
‘Whence comes sachs disposition ro mastery? What is the
source ofthe recclogia tite? Again, a question sfc to
Tunnel Acoeing to some, ts dept rots ae somehow sed to
Ihuman weakness acer isthe mother of invention. Nee is
Behind the Hstooke andthe plow fae of beasts and men behind
theclub andthe bariade and fear of dent behind medicines
according to Hobbes, the far fon eat tht awakens aman
reason andthe quest for matryJOF cours, too much ec ene
tate According ro Aeschylus Prometheus, only when men cased
‘eving doom beloe tei eyes were they able with hiv id to rise
‘pom abt aothingess, poverty tron In hve the wold
inkospialsy—aorto sy Coward human need and wants
arousts th disposition 1 sel through tecoogy)
‘By other accounts, the primary coot is aot weak
suenghy pie rather han needy fear cette technological ai
tudes According to Genes, for example, the Bist oo wa he nee
‘le and the fis artifact the fig leaf, when shame—which s here
‘nothing but wounded pide—moved the primordial human beings
to cover ther nakedness, ight from the moment ofthese 0
‘uinflselcoscousess® Pride ies behind the technological poj-
‘cto the cy and tower of Babel he human rac being mowed by
the desire to make sea name through ar elt-anertion” At
the beginning ofthe modem er, Francs Bacon, himsef moved by
honor and lon called mankind ro the conguest of ature fo the
elie of mans ext, projet he regarded a th highest and most4 if Liberty andthe Defoe of Digit
‘mapicet human posibily® Asition—the dese fr wealth,
power and bonor— prompts any a man of scence ad indus
Finally, the master doesnt seck mastery just escape from the
col
Thete are, ofcourse the posible rots than farmed and
pride: fr example lasines, bench the desi fo a eater way 0
‘mow the lawn; boredom, beneath the dese for new smssements
treed, beneath dese simply or more and mo; ait and st
beneath the dese fr new adornment and sllarerents ry and
Jared beneath the dest ai thse who make fellow And
there also the harodeeibe dese ro do something, ake
someting, o order something ust 1 seit done—cll euros,
calif, clit dig alt perversity ali wlt-powee
think weall knw the motive ven fom she nie
‘This analysis ofthe origin ofthe echolopal dispositions
so far onl psychological, and gos deep ito has etre of the
human psyche. Yet his cannot be the whole story. For on thing
otal human societies would he ih described technological,
eventhough al of them practic a east some ofthe arts, The peo.
ple of ancient Irae andthe Native Americans ofthe New World
tere not cholic nitions; neither technology today the rl
ing outlook in amo in much of Ata Tn plac of the depoion
to ational mastery thse societies andl any oter like them are
ruled bythe spiro reverence, o ational pid, othe pasion for
Fighteousneso: holies or nobly, or even jas te intense devo-
tion to one's own traditions. Even inthe rationalise Wise, echno-
legal society seems to have appeared ony inthe lst two century
and atts now runaway pace, aly inthe ls sey or ghy yer.
{Weel sexs aif moder wchoology fers rom ncn te
‘ot only in sale, bur even, decisively int naar]
‘Whate one his iso can be argued tng Bt oe thing
is indisputable: moder technology would no be the ubiquitous
pPhenomenon—or the problem —that ts, ware tno for modern
cence, tha daring and sropendoo ei of ill swelng know
ge, bul only over the last 350 year, on foundations laid by
Galle, Bacon and Descres. Says Robert Sith Woadhay in is
ance onthe “stor of Technology” forthe Enelopadi rt
‘eis "For many thousands of yeas... an’) progress in ech:
The Problem of Tecnolagy and Libr Democracy 35
J nology was made by tal and ers by empl advance... Iwas
nly toward deed of the 18th century that techalogy began 0
tecome applied sence, with ess inthe 19th and 20h centres,
that have tad enormots influence. "” Adicio ofthe nate of
technology woul beacomplee without es a ew word about
moder iene.
“Though i ie ahionabl to dings plied fom pues
the exentilypratieahsoil and technical character of moder
ot onda of war ngs
ied i il saying tthe koowe
Incontan, moder eens ser knowledge of bow things work,
and comfort of al human
nom kowers alike, Though che benets were at ist
low in coming this peactia intention hasbeen at the heart of mod-
frascince right from the start Here, fo example ithe elebrated
sanouncement by Descartes ofthe good news of knowledge thats
ery useful in ie
So son at had acquired some general notions concerning
Physics they canted met ee that its pouible oan
| knowledge which s very asefl in ie, and thafistead ofthat
speculative philosophy whichis found in the Scboo's we may
find practical philoeophy by means of which, Knowing the
force and the ation of ie, wate a, the stars, heave, and all
{hc thes bods hat enon a dla we now the
‘teen cats of ou artisans we an inthe same way ply
| | ternal hse ae ich hyve adapted thre
der ours a the matere and poseso: of naar")
[Emphasis aed}
ut mde cence is peat and aril ot onlin its ens
1 very sions nd waye mies a conception of he intereation
cof knowledge and power Natur hers coneivedenergedialy
‘nd mechanically and explanation of change ven in tems of
(atmo) ecient of moving eases maven scenes, wo be spon
"le means to produce an fect. Kaowledge elt obtained ro-
ctively: iden eth ae gained by acing on nature, ehovgh
‘experiment, witing her arm o make he coigh up her ere. The36 if Liberty athe Datos of Dinity
so-called empirical science of natures, at atually experienced, the
highly comrived encounter with apparatus measuring devices, pointer
readings and numbers; nature ins ondinary course virally never
Aiectly encountered. Inquiry is made “methodical,” through the
‘imposition of order and schemes of measurement *made” by the
intellect. Knowledge, embodied in laws rather than theorems,
becomes “systematic” under rues ofa new mathematics expresly
‘invented fo this purpose. This mathematics orders an “unnatural”
‘work! that has ben inllctally “objected,” re-pesented or pro-
jected before the knowing subject as pare homogenous extension,
ripe forthe mind's grasping —jast as she wosld itself wl be grasped
by the techniques that science wil ater provide. Even the modeen
word “concept” means “a grasping lying that dhe
ig fa intervening
andi contrast ts ancient counterpar.(de,)
implies tha te mind fu
ing. Aod moder lence jt meaning ruc,
tons that cannot be answered by the application of method, cease
becomes notte epesnation and demonstration of tat but an
rth av of Ging he trata ater thar orton of ath that
“el to bing aly found. Pally, the tt hat der
science ids even about human bings—ate alue-aeutaly inno
way cesining technical application, and indeed perfect adapeed
for it{In shore, as Hans Jonas has put it, modern science contains
manipula ts teoreial core and this remane tre even
for thee reat cients who re themes motated by ede
for uth and who have o interest in that mary ovr naar fo
‘wich tr dscoveinaocethele cont, nd for which
‘cei rg eed by the et of wand mighty supported by
the modern sate.
For his eto, we mos thik of moder science and modern
technology a sng, itgrated phenotenon isthe ate fasion
wth te former tat makes it bot osucesul and, as we sal
ses such problem,
that which
‘The Problem of Tecolgy and Liberal Democracy 37
What Isa Problem?
IE we now know what we might mean by “technology,” we need
alko a few words abost “problem” if we ae fruitflly co addess
‘er question, “The Problem of Technology.” What do we mean by
“a problem? This sno semantic game, For there ea deep dif
ence between thinking of something a a problem and regarding it
say, question. (Heidegger Samousesay i “The Question Con
ering Technology") A "problem from the Greck problema i
traly “somthing thrown ou before” i any challenging obstacle,
fom a fence chown up before an armed eam ta task se before
someone to be done. Problems ae publily articulated tasks that
challenge us to solve them, which sto say t0 do away with them,
‘When a problem is solved, i disappears its solution i its disso
tion, The solution is usually a construction, something we make,
past together rom elements ato which the problem is broken up oF,
tse sy, analyzed We model he problem into a shape convenient
for such analysand construction; a8 we say, we igure oxt Fr
thes, problem requires a solution nt ow terms; ee solution
‘ever cases one beyond the arignal probs given.
Theol of ch problem sling ase The uations
‘containing unknowns are arranged, showing the-arialyzed clements
in their constrcted relations. The solutions that identify the
unknowns dissolve the problem, and render the equation into an
identity oe tautology, which inves no freer thot. But his mode
of though is no confined to algebra eis the dominant mode of all
‘modern scientic and technological thinking, a which, as we have
‘cen, the mind makes its perplestes operational by ering der
into problems tha ircan then methodically solve, But, frthes,this
mode of though is infact, the dominant mode of everyone’ think
ing much ofthe time, We sre alway eying to iguze something out,
to finda way over or around our obstacles, o solve ou problems
We do not lke to be abstracted, to beat a oss, to be resouceles.
We do nt like to have problems.
‘What then, does it mean to treat technology asa problem, or
teas sboot the problem (or even the problems) of technolog? For
twhom is technology an obstacle? More importantly, with respect t03 fiery a the Daft of Dig
‘what goals or desderata does technology obstruct? Ist an obsts
cle to human happiness orto justice orto self-knowledge? Could
technology, understood asthe disposition and activity of mastery,
‘um out ro be a stumbling block in he path ofthe maser himsel?
Finally if technology sa problem, of poses problem, what would
or could be is "solution"? Ifthe dficultis caused by technology
are infact only peoblems—say, for example the problem of unin
tended sid ffects—we are certainly well advised tobe looking for
solutions But what if the dificult attending technology ae both
inzegral its very being and inseparable from its beneits—lke the
“other side of coin? This would make technology mor ike «tragedy
tha begs fr understanding nd endurance, chan ike a problem that
«alls fra solution. To pur the point starkly: o formulate the ques
tion about technology asthe problem of schnology ssf a man.
ifesation of technological thinking —of the dese to knock down
allobsacls, even foal in mi out the problem of tech.
nology infact exemplifies
‘The Problems of Technology
My warning about terminology nocwithstanding, Lam going te con-
side the problems of technology. Neediess to say, I make No pre-
tense of comprehensiveness. Moreover, would not even attempt a
balance shee of benefs and arms, even for a single circumscribed
technique; the task is vireally impossible, and the potential gain in
fundamental understanding sight Finally chough {shall speak only
about problems—forclealy, the blessings of technology ate well
known to us all am not, Iepet, an enemy of scence and tech-
nology, at least in ther proper measure, and I hold no brief for
Fomantcsm rationality or the good old days. In those good old
days, most of us would very likely have either died i infancy oF
spent our abbreviated life in arduous tol, ad perhaps have been
persecuted for our heresies,
“The first thing I would observe that the argument about tec
aology—or atleast about the goadess and ralfcency of human
artand craftiness—is very old. Nealy everyone in antiquity agreed
thar some form and degre of aus ws indispensable for meting
t
“The Prolon ofTeoloy and Liberal Democracy “(39.4,
tuan dr and for human ring togetr: No ano cies and
if no cites, no true humanity. Rational nial, echnical animal,
political animal—ie fall one package. The arguments concerned
‘athe the unguaifed goodness ofthis package ad, even more, the
‘ative importance of techne and of law (or Bx) promoting the
human good.
Cudely put the argument could be state this way. Those who
hold hat che biggest obstacles to human happiness are material,
ad arse from sacity and he wnginess and violence of nature,
fom the indifference ofthe powers tht be, o (whi) from di
case and death, look so the arts. In this view, the inventors and
bringers of the ars ace che rue benefactors of mankind, and are
revered ike the gods; the supreme example is Prometheus tcl,
“orethoughe), ringer of re, with ts warming and transforming
owes ad dhrough fe, all the other ar. By contest, those Who
feunuiyand =
tet te aly dof soya pase
‘hc lvsiver, ie statesmen andthe prophets ar te ue bene
tos of mankind {or rou bet Louse the eles
eiatal bt Mose arses iy beau hy ee
comfort nd fey bas iy sina noms Sse a
Seu te pretend wo selcency, nh amen egy of
Tecapet Ps Repu Scr nits te Pome
fio fecha the coche fe as tha hold one
Trp cindy and comfrey lind toe word
fetond he ty, liking th cafe worl forthe wey men
Inetbnctt ofthe woe mandigin he words he bese
Alpen on pont ofthc own aking and beyond te
onl" Ony when ear amen ed pata and
shen ples povened yn abou te una also
tans pein hewn en a coer ope ohana
touring.
“The coming of ty modern holga poe ad now
vale othis doped Wh echolay, oned sponte no
‘Sens el gies ny gy mat whoa bat kn ny
‘rue iting Whi sence ed clay could fe ong“0 if Liberty andthe Defense of Die
to bear onthe human psyche (and human society) by means of a
perfected psycho physics (and scent poical since)? Might one
then eventually eure human happiness by purely rational and tech-
‘ical means, without the ned for law or force or fear of Gad? This
‘was certainly par ofthe sion of Deca, and, itscoms an anti
pated benefit ofthe mastery of nature: “For the mind depends 30
‘uch on the remperament and disposition ofthe boil organs tha,
fits possible to find a means of rendering men wiser and leverer
than they have hitherto been believe that iti in medicine that t
must be sought." Medizing, cat venerable and mosehumanise
ian of arts, will when iis properly transformed by the new science
of nature and human naire, provide at long lst slution forthe
human condition—through wat we have only now begun to call
biotechnology! (Late after the Enlightenment, «similar promise
‘was also tendered in the name of a scientific anthropology and
sociology.)
Feasibility
“The ist question arising fom a consideration ofthe problems of
modern technology iafwhethee masteyof maces sible Are we
really able wo exercise control even over our materia eavizonment?
Here we face frst the practically important, though theoretially
les interesting, problem ofthe unintended and undesired side effects
‘of machin technology ic pollton, zone depletion, cl erosion,
acd rai, toxic wastes, clear fllost—a lst of teribly serious
problems, most of which canbe remedied, iat al, only by more
and beter—not kss—technology including the techniques of mon-
itoring and regulation. Even the prophets of imminent ecological
dlsaner exaggerate, het isan urgent cause Indeed, Hans Jonas
‘has powerfully argued ha, thanks othe profound ad lob eects
cof ewentct-century technology, the wholesale and meaning of
‘human action has ben transformed, and a new ethic centered on
‘esponsibility forthe emir earth needs urgently tobe ineleated
Itsnew categorical imperative: “Do not compromise the conditions
for an indefinite continuation of humanity on earth "*
Some consequencss, called sie effect because they are
mmanted are, in ft, ot effects onthe side Inimatly connected
‘The Problem of Technology and Liberal Democracy 4
With the intended intervention, they must be sen, wanted or not, as
entra nd inegal to the whole Consider stomobiity: by i ery
‘ature etal roads and bridges the nec fr fue an the depend
nce ono the rie ofl mil, auto factories, gas stations, erage,
body shops, parking facilis and taffic laws the production of
noise ames, smog and auto graveyards; che need for autoworkers
auto dealers and mechanics, safety and highway inspectors, trafic
police, parking atendans, diving insractrs, resting and esi
petsonnel, insurance agents and claims adjusters, trackers of stolen
‘at and medial personel to deal with accidents and thie nan
‘sims; and, thanks alo to aroma sel urban spas, homog-
ciation through desertion of ena dfeences, separate lies
for exende families, new modes of courtship behavos new objects
‘of envy and vanity, and a new battleground berween parets and
children appear quite predictably on the scene} Go asses and con
‘rol the so-called unanticipated consequences of ling people p>
idly move themselves about! Generally speaking, its folsh to think
that human beings can exercise extensive control over the conse-
quences of technology, noe least because the users et life can be
altered inthe process As C. 8 Lewis pointed ot, we greatly exag-
tstate the increase in ovr power over nature that eechnology pro-
‘ie each gran ee ou decendans onde
ew devices, but by the fess, we preoedain ofa ast
great contain how dh
Mor rail nalts of tecalogy agg tat modern ech-
nique is beyond human controls pricple) Jacques Ell in his
profound stady La Technique (The Technological Society), argues
thar what looks like free human choice betwen competing tch-
rigues is infact, automaticaly made, always in favor of greater
efficiency; tha technique encroaches everywhere, eliminating of
transforming all previously nontechnical aspect of ies that teck-
nology augments isl reversibly and in geometric progression;
and that technology advances a funder aa ron lv: "Since i was
oul, twas neceanary."* This alleged automaticity of techno
‘ogy and its manifold ees, if rv, would ertsnly embareass the
pretense to maser. Winston Churhil poi staskly over fit years
‘go, wel before most of his contemporaries even suspected that
there was ay problem with technologya Life Liberty andthe Defoe of Dignity
Science bestowed immense new powers on man and atthe
same tine crated conditions which were largely beyond is
‘comprehension and sill ore beyond his contro. While he
ured th llsion of growing mastery and enue in his new
trappings he became the spor and preset the vit of ies
and currents, whilpools and tornadoes, amid which he was far
‘more helpless than he had ben for along time”
In this connection, let me jst mention in passing the special
kindof heplessnes experienced by million of people inthe wen-
tieth century as a result of modern despotism, o whose wopian
programs and tyremicalsoceses andl excess moder technology —
ilar, psychological organizational, ecetera—concibted might
iy. This sobering fae reminds us that wha is called "mans poser
‘ove nature” i, fat, always power of some men over others—
not only under despotsms but even when eis benevolenly used
“This thought about bad and; Ss intentions leads us to the second
problem, the problem of pf technology.
Goals and Goodness
Let set aside petons of easily andthe problem of unwanted
and unweleome conseqance and hink now only abo the deed
{ea What on closer examination, an we ay shout the oa of
the project forthe mastery of mature?
‘As weave aleady noted, mastery of mature sch, t0 beg
wit, man’s bration rm chance and fom natural neces bath
‘ithe and within freedom from toi and lack, ream frm di
tas and depesion,fedom fom he ks of death Pu pose,
‘hee goal cold ald confortable sustenance, heal oma
and payee avd longevi e thse wonder hing ate nt yet
{at human Nourishing; providing the condos forthe pur of
Aapiness, they ae not happiness ells ther, a fat any clear
soton of happiness and hurnan flourishing that inform the the
telogcaldipostion?
Farther whats the ground of these and oer goals? Where
do they come fromi{ Doe liberation from natural necessity Iso
‘nea iberacon fon natural poste dors man even ua aster
‘fate, remain within the grip of mature cepa ie goal? Are
“he Froblon of Tecmoly ond Libera Democracy 43
not the goals of survival and pleasure, for example, given ro man {
by is own narure? Hf 3, then mastery over nacure will always be
incomplete: what looks like marery wil, in fact, be KéviceS-will
‘ye suboedination tothe dictates of nature spontaneouity- working,
‘withia and finaly beyond human contol. Mastery willbe enslaved
meat to instincts, deve, hss, impulsions,passons*
‘On the other hand, perhaps technology ean enable man 0
scape compeey fom che grip even of his own nature, even read
ing the goals of mastery (ehough in another sense, ofcourse, man
‘cannot simply be ouside of nature) fo, then mastery of nature
‘vould mean the virally complete liberation of man from natures
‘Control Reason would not only be took reason would eee. Man
‘would be fee fr ful self-xertion, toward goals e fel st for
himself Mans goals, lke his means, would be his own projects
“This alone would be genuine mastery, sticly speaking. Something
like this view of ecology scems to be the understanding and the