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Profile photo of Jayne Svenungsson

Jayne Svenungsson

Researcher

Profile photo of Jayne Svenungsson

Interdependence and the Biblical Legacy of Anthropocentrism : On Human Destructiveness and Human Responsibility

Author

  • Jayne Svenungsson

Summary, in English

This article engages with the biblical legacy of anthropomorphism from a contemporary perspective. First, it revisits the biblical creation myth and questions the deeply ingrained notion that what it offers is an account of ‘creation out of nothingness.’ Second, this rereading is followed by a closer look at how this particular theology was elaborated by Hans Jonas in his philosophy of life. In the final part of the paper, Jonas’s philosophy of responsibility is linked to a reflection on humanity’s unique capacity for destruction and self-destruction. Contrary to much of contemporary posthumanism, it is argued that a recognition of the interdependence between the human and the non-human worlds must never be a matter of erasing the distinction between them, since such a blurring of distinctions runs the risk of overshadowing the uniqueness of human destructiveness and thereby of undermining a serious discussion of human responsibility.

Department/s

  • Studies in Faith and World Views

Publishing year

2018

Language

English

Pages

35-47

Publication/Series

Eco-Ethica

Volume

7

Document type

Journal article

Topic

  • Religious Studies

Keywords

  • interdependence
  • anthropocentrism
  • responsibility
  • Hans Jonas
  • Genesis
  • creation myth
  • posthumanism

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 2186-4802