Catastrofe senza catarsi: tesi sulla distopia quotidiana

Philosophy has always dealt with the concept and experience of catastrophe, from Plato to Günther Anders, via Voltaire, Rousseau, Kant and Walter Benjamin, to name but a few. But, as Anders clearly recognized, the catastrophes that humanity can now unleash with the disproportionate power of technology are infinitely greater than those contemplated by ancient philosophers. While these were limited to so-called “natural catastrophes”, primarily earthquakes, floods and fires, which were sudden and ruinous but still bounded, present and future ones are global and irreversible, and mostly bear human hallmarks. The scenarios to which humanity is exposed, varying in pace but with an increasingly scant margin for predictive error or repentance, cast the significant catastrophes of antiquity – from the eruption of the Thera Volcano, so potent as to submerge an island, mythologically referred to as Atlantis, to the Lisbon earthquake – into the realm of ordinary local phenomena. The speed at which such catastrophes unfold challenges human capacity to foresee or rectify their course. The uncertainty and escalating margin of error in endeavors to prevent or mitigate these threats urgently necessitate philosophical reflection on our relationship with technology and our ethical responsibility in shaping the destiny of our planet.