Treść książki
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Mediainthesociety
23
awayofprogressisoleredandawaitsus,analogoustothatwhichtheindivid-
ualcannotrejectwithoutfallingintosinanddamnation.”11
TeideasofTeilharddeChardinbecamesomewhatpopularinthe1990s,be-
causehewasthoughttohavepredictedthedevelopmentoftheInternetandinspired
itsmakers.12Indeed,overwhelmingevolutiondoesentail,accordingtotheFrench
Jesuit,thecreationoftransistorsandintegratedcircuitsand,later-thankstominia-
turisation-personalcomputers.Tey,inturn,mustconnectintoanetworkwhich
willbecomethenoosphere.Teseinventions,despitetheirhumanorigin,hadbeen
predictedandprogrammedearlierinthedivineplanandthushadtotakeplace.
TeworksofTeilharddeChardinhavebeenpublished,read,andcommentedon
inPolandsincethe1960s,anditisclearthathehadsomeinfluenceonshapingati-
tudestowardstechnology.13Itmaybenocoincidence,ratherareflectionofthezeit-
geist,thatthepublicationofthecompletecollectionofhisworksbeganinPoland
in1984,atthetimeofnewmediarevolution.Teorthodoxdoctrinehadamuch
morepowerfulimpact,however,especiallytheteachingsoftheCatholicChurch,
whichformedindividual,aswellasinstitutional,thinking.IntheFeenbergtable,
itissituatedintheneutralandnon-deterministicarea.TeCatechismoftheCath-
olicChurchstatesitmostclearly:
2293Basicscientificresearch,aswellasappliedresearch,isasignificantexpres-
sionofman’sdominionovercreation.Scienceandtechnologyarepreciousresourc-
eswhenplacedattheserviceofmanandpromotehisintegraldevelopmentfor
thebenefitofall.Bythemselveshowevertheycannotdisclosethemeaningofex-
istenceandofhumanprogress.Scienceandtechnologyareorderedtoman,from
whomtheytaketheiroriginanddevelopment;hencetheyfindinthepersonandin
hismoralvaluesbothevidenceoftheirpurposeandawarenessoftheirlimits.
2294Itisanillusiontoclaimmoralneutralityinscientificresearchanditsapplica-
tions.Ontheotherhand,guidingprinciplescannotbeinferredfromsimpletech-
nicalefciency,orfromtheusefulnessaccruingtosomeattheexpenseofothers
or,evenworse,fromprevailingideologies.Scienceandtechnologybytheirvery
naturerequireunconditionalrespectforfundamentalmoralcriteria.Teymustbe
attheserviceofthehumanperson,ofhisinalienablerights,ofhistrueandintegral
good,inconformitywiththeplanandthewillofGod.14
11PierreTeilharddeChardin,TeFutureofMan,trans.NormanDenny(NewYork:
ImageBooks/Doubleday,2004),10.
12SeeJenniferCobbKreisberg,“AGlobe,ClothingItselfwithaBrain,”Wired1995,
accessedDecember12,2016,htps://www.wired.com/1995/06/teilhard/
13TeilhardDeChardinremainsadisputedfigureinPolandandinthelast50years
anumberofbooksandpapersdiscussinghisthoughthavebeenpublished.
14CatholicChurch,CatechismoftheCatholicChurch,2nded.(Vatican:Libreria
EditriceVaticana,2012).
