BETRIZATION AND ETHICSPHERE – TWO LITERARY CONCRETIZATIONS OF LEM’S IDEA OF TECHNOLOGY OF ETHICS

Abstract

The aim of the article is to reconstruct, analyze and compare two of Lem’s visions which concern the application of the future development of science and technology in order to construct an enhanced society. In other words, two literary concretizations of his idea concerning the technology of ethics. These are betrization — presented in the novel Return from the Stars and the ethicsphere — presented in the novel Observation on the Spot. In the “Introduction,” I discuss the specifics of Lem’s philosophizing, both in terms of its form and content, and I identify its main subject as concerning the problem of the influence of technological development on man, society and sphere of values. Then in the section “Life in an unfriendly world” I discuss the context which provides the background for the presentation of two Lem’s visions of technology of ethics, namely, the Doctrine of the Three Worlds, an integral part of the novel Observation on the Spot, but its meaning also explains Lem’s motivation to take up the idea of betrization. In the section “Life in a society devoid of aggression and risk,” I discuss a hypothetical society subjected to betrization — a procedure that eliminates aggressive tendencies. In the section “Living in a completely safe environment,” I discuss a hypothetical society living in an ethicsphere, that is, an “intelligent” environment programmed to care for the safety of its members; I also present a brief comparison of betrization and the ethicsphere. I conclude the paper by indicating where Lem’s considerations figure within the typology of utopia proposed by Bernard Suits.

Keywords

• stanisław lem
• technology
• ethics
• evil
• betrization
• ethicsphere
• the doctrine of three worlds