Faced with the benefits of techno-science and developments which are sometimes unreasonable, should the recognition of our finiteness be wiped out? A utilitarian world of dope-enhanced performances at the expense of human stability is willing to incite us to give up the positive values of our limits. Surfing in a virtual word, transhumanism, and in perspective, post-humanism, refuse the vulnerability of the body in order to deify an enhanced, incorruptible man.
Yet doesn’t the current vitality of solidarity-based support include more than prolonging life absurdly? Just look how accepting to travel the journey of weakness can bear fruit as A.D. Julliand demonstrates so well in her book “A particular day” where the love of their sick child attests to the beauty of an ordeal faced together. Faced with this extreme fragility, the heart of the family relationships consists in a permanent renewal ‘nourished by love received and enriched by love given’: a genuine call never to underestimate the power of words and gestures, characteristics of our human nature and awakened by the vulnerability of others. From the person who sends a message of kindness in search of reciprocity, a potential of love can be deployed integrating the vulnerability of the others’ body.
In this ordeal, the body and the spirit of the person remain joined, far from being resumed as an imperfection that needs to be stalked, pretending to live in an imaginary perfect world. The receptiveness and acceptance of the gift contribute fundamentally to an inner momentum signifying the refusal of an almighty power and the firm choice of joyful otherness: thus the foundation of mutual service is linked to the sign of our finiteness. Isn’t this a demonstration of a ‘unique shared inner experience’ (J. Kristeva) of indigent humanism?
Gilles ANDRE-POYAUD, married and father of one boy.
Physician
University graduate in bioethics
