Padrão de Resposta

In his work Civilisation and its Discontents, dated 1930, Sigmund Freud wrote a passage that deserves to be quoted at length, albeit in a paraphrased way: “the fateful question for mankind seems to be whether and to what extent their cultural development will succeed in mastering the human instinctive impulse toward aggression and self-destruction. (…) Human beings have gained such a control over the forces of nature that with their help they would have no difficulty in exterminating one another to the last man.”
In this light, ethics may be defined as a framework that makes men refrain from giving way to their inherent aggressive impulse (what Freud called the “death drive”). Ethics goes thereby hand in hand with culture and, ultimately, civilisation. It is then clear that art, as an expression of cultural development, may contribute significantly to the maintenance of the ethical framework and to the enhancement of human relations. Art has the power of bringing together peoples of different origins and creeds, dismantling the barriers to mutual understanding and leaving little room for resentment.
Technology, on the other hand, has the potential to operate wonders, but it also harbours the potential for destruction that is cause for much of the present-day discomfort. The current diplomatic scenario provides a clear illustration of it. The consciousness of the deadly power of atomic weapons led to a regime of nuclear non-proliferation, as a means to limit man’s “control over the forces of nature”. If states remain concerned about their security, it is evident that such a regime must rest upon the notion and existence of collective security. As the current sole superpower displays na increasingly unilateral stance, undermining the basis of the multilateral order, can one prevent countries from seeking “new machines” for a “new world” where collective security seems to be giving way to the anarchical pattern of “self-help” depicted by the so-called realists? North Korea is a case in point.
As the scope of human relations is broadened with globalisation, the potential for aggression is also increased. The task of art could not be more urgent. It is a universal language whose all-embracing nature reinforces the ethical imperative. It remains one of the last hopes that life may triumph over the death drive.