Text 1A4-I

By the middle years of the 20th century, the optimistic story of limitless progress through scientific and technological advance came to be rivalled and sometimes overshadowed by a much more pessimistic, even apocalyptic vision of the trajectory of the modern project. It began to seem increasingly possible that technology would come to master its creators and carry humanity toward unforeseen and possibly catastrophic outcomes.

Premonitions of technological wizardry leading to disasters are extremely old, dating back at least to the myth of Icarus, who is said to have fatally fallen into the sea after flying too close to the sun on wings his father, Daedalus, constructed. As the Industrial Revolution gathered steam, dark anticipations became increasingly widespread, in works such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus and Karel Capek’s R.U.R. Perhaps technology, not man, was “in the saddle,” as Henry Adams worried. And perhaps machines, becoming ever more capable and interconnected, were the next step in the evolution of life, destined to dominate and eventually eliminate humanity, as Samuel Butler warned. The contours of the future, H. G. Wells announced in one of his famous lectures, “The Discovery of the Future,” were difficult to discern but would surely be unlike the past or the present, and definitely included disasters of new types and magnitudes.

In the ghastly world wars, technological advances empowered barbarism on a new scale, destroying the credibility of the simple modernist faith that more potent tools are a straight path to human betterment. Rather, technological advance has produced a cornucopia of double-edged swords, with amplified possibilities for both progress and disaster. A growing herd of horsemen of the anthropogenic apocalypse have ominously appeared on the human horizon of possibility: nuclear weapons, genetic engineering, total surveillance despotism, runaway artificial intelligence, and rampant environmental decay.

Daniel Deudney. Dark Skies: Space Expansionism, Planetary Geopolitics, and the Ends of Humanity. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020 (adapted).

The pursuit of space exploration represents one of the most captivating undertakings of the human race, serving as a testament to our inherent drive to comprehend the cosmos and our position within it. As humanity expands its reach beyond the confines of Earth, the intricate and essential relationship between technology and law grows increasingly intricate and indispensable.

The rapid progress of technology has ushered us into an era when endeavours in outer space, previously confined to the realm of science fiction, are now becoming tangible and feasible. The present circumstances require a comprehensive legal structure encompassing the existing range of space endeavours and the flexibility to accommodate dynamic technological advancements. The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 set the foundational legal principles governing space exploration activities. However, as humanity continues to explore space and private companies participate alongside sovereign nations, the intersection of technology and law serves as both a catalyst for progress and a cause of disagreement.

Bansi Kaneria; Shivam Pandey. Interplay Between Technology and Law in Space Exploration. In: IOSR Journal of Environmental Science Toxicology and Food Technology, 2024, 18 (03): 31-46 (adapted).

The pursuit of space exploration represents one of the most captivating undertakings of the human race, serving as a testament to our inherent drive to comprehend the cosmos and our position within it. As humanity expands its reach beyond the confines of Earth, the intricate and essential relationship between technology and law grows increasingly intricate and indispensable.

The rapid progress of technology has ushered us into an era when endeavours in outer space, previously confined to the realm of science fiction, are now becoming tangible and feasible. The present circumstances require a comprehensive legal structure encompassing the existing range of space endeavours and the flexibility to accommodate dynamic technological advancements. The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 set the foundational legal principles governing space exploration activities. However, as humanity continues to explore space and private companies participate alongside sovereign nations, the intersection of technology and law serves as both a catalyst for progress and a cause of disagreement.

Bansi Kaneria; Shivam Pandey. Interplay Between Technology and Law in Space Exploration. In: IOSR Journal of Environmental Science Toxicology and Food Technology, 2024, 18 (03): 31-46 (adapted).

Jeremy Bentham, filósofo e jurista que viveu na Inglaterra entre 1748 e 1832, foi o criador do utilitarismo como filosofia moral. Tal concepção surgiu em um período bastante específico, a era da razão. Bentham dirigiu suas críticas principalmente ao direito, tendo sido um vigoroso defensor da codificação das leis em um país que possui o sistema consuetudinário. A originalidade de suas críticas se forjava sob os auspícios da idade das luzes.

Raoul Van Caenegem, historiador belga e renomado especialista no campo da história jurídica europeia, afirma, sobre o utilitarismo, que “O ponto de partida para a crítica de Bentham ao sistema inglês (que, em sua época, era substancialmente medieval) não foi o direito natural continental, mas sim uma ideia inteiramente original: o princípio da utilidade. Bentham não formulou axiomas nem deduziu normas do direito a partir deles; em vez disso, questionou a utilidade de cada conceito e norma jurídica, e o objetivo prático destes para o homem e a sociedade de sua época”.

Segundo Caenegem, o princípio da utilidade pode ser definido como “o princípio que aprova ou desaprova qualquer ação, segundo a tendência que tem de aumentar ou diminuir a felicidade da pessoa cujo interesse está em jogo, ou seja, segundo a tendência de promover ou de comprometer a felicidade de alguém”.

O utilitarismo envolve uma ética adequadamente denominada de consequencialista, na medida em que requer que se avaliem, em cada caso concreto, os efeitos das ações, isto é, se as condutas são eticamente reprováveis a partir do critério da utilidade. Preconiza que as ações humanas devem seguir o princípio da utilidade, consistente na consideração da quantidade de prazer e de dor que as ações provocam nos indivíduos. As ações devem considerar todos os interesses, de maneira que nenhum contrainteresse seja desconsiderado ou tenha preponderância sobre outro.

Além disso, o número de pessoas atingidas pelas ações é objeto de análise. Busca-se sempre promover a maior quantidade de prazer possível ao maior número de indivíduos, ao passo que se evita o desprazer em uma proporção inversa: há um paralelismo entre o prazer e o sofrimento para o inglês, de tal modo que a maximização de um significa proporcionalmente a minimização de outro.

Internet: <http://publicadireito.com.br> (com adaptações).

Text 1A4-I

By the middle years of the 20th century, the optimistic story of limitless progress through scientific and technological advance came to be rivalled and sometimes overshadowed by a much more pessimistic, even apocalyptic vision of the trajectory of the modern project. It began to seem increasingly possible that technology would come to master its creators and carry humanity toward unforeseen and possibly catastrophic outcomes.

Premonitions of technological wizardry leading to disasters are extremely old, dating back at least to the myth of Icarus, who is said to have fatally fallen into the sea after flying too close to the sun on wings his father, Daedalus, constructed. As the Industrial Revolution gathered steam, dark anticipations became increasingly widespread, in works such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus and Karel Capek’s R.U.R. Perhaps technology, not man, was “in the saddle,” as Henry Adams worried. And perhaps machines, becoming ever more capable and interconnected, were the next step in the evolution of life, destined to dominate and eventually eliminate humanity, as Samuel Butler warned. The contours of the future, H. G. Wells announced in one of his famous lectures, “The Discovery of the Future,” were difficult to discern but would surely be unlike the past or the present, and definitely included disasters of new types and magnitudes.

In the ghastly world wars, technological advances empowered barbarism on a new scale, destroying the credibility of the simple modernist faith that more potent tools are a straight path to human betterment. Rather, technological advance has produced a cornucopia of double-edged swords, with amplified possibilities for both progress and disaster. A growing herd of horsemen of the anthropogenic apocalypse have ominously appeared on the human horizon of possibility: nuclear weapons, genetic engineering, total surveillance despotism, runaway artificial intelligence, and rampant environmental decay.

Daniel Deudney. Dark Skies: Space Expansionism, Planetary Geopolitics, and the Ends of Humanity. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020 (adapted).