Miedo y riesgo tecnológico en el catastrofismo filosófico de Jean Pierre Dupuy y Paul Virilio

Abstract

In this work we will present and evaluate the philosophical thesis of Jean Pierre Dupuy and Paul Virilio about the fear generated by the negative consequences derived from the implementation of some of the technological systems that shape the contemporany world. While both authors place emphasis on the catastrophic potential of technology, their opinions differ in assesing the role of fear as an impeding or enabling element in the undesirable and devastating consequences of the global technification. While Dupuy assumes the fear heuristic of Hans Jonas and, therefore, understands fear as an adequate tool to avoid the worst future scenarios we can imagine; Virilio, on the other hand, develops a critique of social control exercised through the detonation of collective fears that are propagated through information and communication technologies. In addition, their approaches differ with regard to the evaluation of risks; because, if Dupuy is suspicious of the one carried out by the experts through a cost/benefit calculation, Virilio believes that social evaluation is affected by irrational fears that prevent the true causes of technological problems from being detected.