The Philosophical-Anthropological and Ethical Meaning of Jonas' Image Theory

It is generally acknowledged that Hans Jonas' ethical reflections advocate conservation, and this is especially due to the potentially disruptive effects of current technological developments to terrestrial life. What I would like to clarify is that the accomplishment of these new ethical tasks entails preserving a particular 'quality' of terrestrial life, which expresses itself in the human being's eidetic and reflective freedom and in the essentially related capability of being responsible. This specificity relies on life's teleological dynamism, while at the same time being capable of somehow transcending and perhaps even negating it. In an era of rampant technological and economic development, the latter possibility would result in the loss of life's higher potential. Finding effective ways to avert this threat is Jonas' main philosophical concern. In order to fully comprehend these statements it is of paradigm importance to take a closer look at Jonas' anthropology, where the notion of 'image' plays a unique role.