[Attempt at a preliminary reply to Renan's question, "De quoi vivra-t-on après nous?" Thoughts of a pedagogue on the natural history of an anticipated horizon].
The problems of contemporary mankind are the result of a dismal mechanism: All conscious planning is the anticipated result of an action; the accompanying side effects, referred to by the German philosopher W. Wundt (1832-1920) as "Heterogenie der Zwecke" (heterogeny of purposes), are, as a rule, not given serious thought. The more complex a system, the more unintelligible and impenetrable is the map of possible side effects. The best known responses to this situation are the so-called "Kritische Theorie" (Adorno u. Horkheimer 1969), Cybernetics, "Science assessment", the program of the "Club of Rome": "No limits to learning: bridging the human gap". Certain forms of contemporary nihilism appear to be resulting from these responses which are demonstrating man's powerlessness in respect to complex systems. Traditional public education neglects consequential thinking, i.e. the consideration of possible side effects, in preference to purely technical effect-thinking. Neither the excessive complexity of contemporary systems nor nihilism will be overcome without the resuming of old virtues, without recalling the tragic tenor of life and without changing the mind (metanoia).
D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D005619:Freudian Theory; D006801:Humans; D010684:Philosophy; D012925:Social Conformity; D012940:Social Problems; D012945:Social Values
Versuch einer vorläufigen Beantwortung der RENANschen Frage "De quoi vivra-t-on après nous?" Gedanken eines Pädagogen zur Naturgeschichte eines Erwartungshorizontes.