Mankind’s Existence as First Commandment in Hans Jonas: Lessons for Contemporary Humanity

This paper seeks to present Hans Jonas’s view of the primacy of human existence amidst the catastrophes wrought by modern technology. It suggests that we understand the existence of mankind as the first commandment. Mankind today, more than ever before, stands as the main instrument of technological manipulation as evinced by recent scientific endeavours: genetic manipulation, human cloning as well as extension of human lifespan, not excluding the threat of a nuclear war. Although mankind has never been without technology, the negative consequences of modern technology are a call for concern. In line with Jonas’s novel ethic, we anchor the starting point of mankind’s responsibility for the care of the present and future generations on metaphysics.This is in a bid to bridge the yawning gap between the scientifically ascertained “is†and the morally binding “ought†in order to save mankind from an impending catastrophe.