Futures tended: care and future-oriented responsibility

Adam, Barbara Elisabeth and Groves, Christopher Robert ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5873-1119 2011. Futures tended: care and future-oriented responsibility. Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society 31 (1) , pp. 17-27. 10.1177/0270467610391237

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Abstract

The phenomenon of technological hazards, whose existence is only revealed many years after they were initially produced, shows that the question of our responsibilities toward future generations is of urgent importance. However, the nature of technological societies means that they are caught in a condition of structural irresponsibility: the tools they use to know the future cannot encompass the temporal reach of their actions. This article explores how dominant legal and moral concepts are equally deficient for helping us understand what future-oriented responsibility requires. An alternative understanding of responsibility is needed, one which can be developed from phenomenological and feminist concepts of care. Care, by opening up for us an understanding of the diversity of values that are constitutive of a worthwhile life, also connects us to the future as the future of care. As such, it provides us with ethical resources that can guide us in the face of uncertainty.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability and Society (BRASS) Centre for Economic and Social Aspects of Genomics (CESAGen) Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	care ethics; future; Hans Jonas; intergenerational ethics; responsibility; risk; uncertainty
Publisher:	Sage
ISSN:	0270-4676
Funders:	ESRC
Last Modified:	28 Jan 2025 22:15
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/18773

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