VULNERABILITY AS A FEATURE OF HUMAN NATURE IN THE CONTEXT OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL CHALLENGES OF MODERN TECHNOLOGIES

Abstract

Abstract. The purpose of the article is a philosophical analysis of vulnerability as an integral feature of human ontology in the context of anthropological challenges of modern technologies. The methodological basis of the research lies in the theory of subjectivity and the phenomenology of corporeality as fundamental components of a human being. The dialectical method of analysis allowed us to reduce vulnerability to a «category» as a unity of the universal, the particular, and the individual. We also relied on the cognitive potential of modern bioethics, which combines various philosophical and theoretical approaches to understanding the living and human. Scientific novelty. The exponential development of information technologies and digitalization has produced an unexpected form of human vulnerability. The boundary between the human and the machine becomes porous as the non-human becomes an essential part of the (post)human sense of identity. The problem of vulnerability actualizes the importance of living in the modern technocratic society. Vulnerability should not be considered a negative sign. To be human is to be vulnerable. Vulnerability as an ontological condition of all human existence is inextricably linked to responsibility and duty as a norm of moral action. Vulnerability as an ethical principle establishes the logic of ethical rationality that must be present in the development and implementation of new technologies. Conclusions. Reducing vulnerability is not about overcoming humanity and critical attitude to scientific and technological progress, but about preserving a human. Philosophy and religion, in our opinion, are important factors in preventing the disastrous consequences of encountering new technologies. It is important to develop in children and youth the ability to think critically, their inner freedom and responsibility.