Christoph Hubig’s Interpretation And Reconstruction Of Aristotle’s Theory Of "Phronesis"

It is nothing new about the publications of "phronesis" proposed by Aristotle,but the majority focuses on the essence of the thought,its influence on the following philosophers,and how the Aristotelians further develop the thought of Aristotle.Christoph Hubig,a German technology and ethics philosopher has placed the thought against the background of the modern technology to systematically reflect and evaluate its possibility in the reality.He has reinterpreted the definition of Aristoltle’s "phronesis" with the basis of "value",the "uncertainty"as object,the "institution/organization" as subject toliability in order to find a response and solution to the challenge in the age of technology."Klugethik" of Hubig has become an important theoretical basis and guiding ideology for the search of technical ethics and engineering ethical practices not only in Germany but also in the whole Europe.This thesis starts with the investigation of the concept of "phronesis",and reviews the origin of "phronesis" as well as its basic by exploring "phronesis" regarding its etymology.On this basis four characteristics of "phronesis" are pointed out which are "to be good",practicality,variability,empiricism by pragmatic analysis of "phronesis".Thus,a "phronesis" system of Aristotle,which take "good" as its ultimate end and regard "consideration in practice" as its way of acting,is built among the "community".However,with the impact modern technology,the three pillars of "phronesis" system are going through changes in different degrees:First,different ethical principles,which originated from traditional western society conflict with each other and uncompromising when coming to the definition of "good".According to Hubig,it will lead to one-sideness when it is single-value-oriented or the only purpose of behavior choice is to get a sort of kind "good".Thus,Hubig makes a thorough inquiry about the nature of value and comes up with two concepts,which are "value of heritage" and "value of option",and puts forward seven strategies to solve the problem of value conflicts.He emphasizes that standard of strategies must be constantly updated adapting to new and specific surroundings,until "balance of reflection" is achieved under new standards,and all adjustment should base on the constantly developed reality and its possible consequence.Second,"consideration in practice" may get into trouble because of the complicated form of modern technology and uncontrollable consequence of technology.Regarding this issue Hubig strives to rethink about the "uncertainty" and figures out three facts that "uncertainty"stems from,which means the abnormal functionality of objective factors,the social attribute of subjective factors and innovation thought as well as the existence of structural factors.On this basis he comes up with nine steps of risk management and points out "uncertainty" should be regarded as the object of "reflection" in each step.Facing the loss of trust in society he insists on combining the "external control" with the "internal cultivation",in order to build the trust among the people,to reduce the risk and uncertainty in modern society,and let people be out of the world of technology filled with "loneliness" and step into the wonderful world of trust.Third,the systematization and professionalization of modern technology gradually dissolve the ethical community and promote the formation of science-and technology community.In this process,scientists and engineers as the responsible "heroes" stand out of all the professions based on their professional ability and knowledge.In the opinion of Hubig,the design and utilization of technology is a complicated process,and scientists and engineers as individuals can hardly take the resposbility for the consequence of their behavior and roles.He believes that individual "heroic" responsibility should be replaced by organizations and institutions in the name of "community of responsibility".The redefined Hubig’s "Klugethik" has great academic value in consideration of its inspiration for the even deeper analysis of the technical ethic issues,and its weakness demonstrates that any ethical model would be restricted by its own culture.Regarding the new background,we should absorb the knowledge that is suitable for the development of the Chinese technical ethics,and make adjustment and supplement according to the traditional Chinese philosophy in order to build a technical ethic view which tally with the Chinese conditions.