Abstract

The promise and perils of technology rightly provoke awe, thanks, and hope, but also the dread of man-caused natural and social disaster. Technology, and the remarkable mathematical view of nature upon which it is founded, are implicated in raging rifts among nations, rooted indiffering images of human nature, freedoms, and ends. The philosopher Hans Jonas achieved key insights into organic life in its relations to technology and mathematics, culminating in critical and cautionary calls for responsible use of technology. This essay explores Jonas' thought on mathematics, technology, and human nature, and its relevance for a critique of transhumanism's image of man and human transcendence. Inspired by Jonas, the essay sketches an alternative image of human nature and self transcendence in four theses on reason and value, the world, responsibility, and transcendence.