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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Aristotelian Perspectives For Post-modern Reason (i) Prudence and Environmental Responsibility: ‘May human life remain possible.’ Hans Jonas’ environmental ethics are clearly set in a post-modern attitude as he rejects some clear dogmas of Modern Age, for example that which says that there are no metaphysical truths or that which states that there is no way from the ‘is’ to the ‘ought’.

But he is not postmodern, rather he is actual , combining intellectual modesty and mistrust in certainty with the quest for an objective basis; he explicitly renounces the utopian outlook, he does not identify science with reason but develops criteria of judgement independent of techno-science precisely in order to judge its applications. Many of these features bring the environmental ethics of Jonas nearer to the ideas we have been setting out.

Their principle of responsibility corresponds clearly to Peirce’s maxim of not blocking the way of inquiry, and both suggest the same concept of rationality. Furthermore, Jonas explicitly recognizes his Aristotelian leanings in his writing, so his concepts may fairly easily be linked with those of Aristotle. In what follows I shall attempt to relate Jonas’ responsibility principle with the Aristotelian notion of prudence and with Peirce’s maxim.

At the same time I shall highlight the link between scientific rationality as Peirce understands it and environmental responsibility as Jonas sets it out[^68] . The ideas of both men, and with them the new rationality that they suggest, are reinforced when seen against a background of ontology and anthropology of Aristotelian inspiration.

Hans Jonas’ responsibility principle, in one of its formulations, states: ‘Behave in such a way that you do not endanger the conditions for mankind’s indefinite stay on Earth.’ It is a principle of respect and care for life in general and of human life in particular, is born from an attitude of intellectual modesty and of the recognition that while our capacity for foresight has grown, it has grown much less than our scope for acting on the environment.

Furthermore, the information we obtain ends up being released to the general public and constitutes in itself a causal factor. This feedback loop makes the future dynamics of society and nature even more unpredictable.