Who is thy neighbour?

On posthumanism, responsibility and interconnected solidarity

Authors

• Jakob Signäs Lund University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3561-4232

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30664/ar.91237

Keywords:

Hans Jonas, Sallie McFague, neigbour, posthumanism, responsibility

Abstract

This article engages with the question of who our neighbour is, linked to the imperative of love thy neighbour, with the aim of a broadened understanding of who should be seen as a neighbour on an ontological level. First, drawing on posthumanistic theory and its critique of human anthropocentrism, as well as ascribing subjectivity and agency outside the human sphere, it seeks to put it into relation with contemporary theological work. Secondly, it brings together the interconnectedness and interdependency argued by posthumanism and its link with the climate crisis the world faces. Drawing on Hans Jonas’s ethics of responsibility and Sallie McFague’s kenotic theology, it argues for a responsibility to be taken by humanity through decentralization, as proposed by posthumanism. Finally, it argues for an expanded understanding of the neighbour in the context of all creation, where love should be directed to all beings.