The concept of hubris points to an overestimation of our abilities. Hubristic persons could have avoided an overestimation of their abilities if they developed a more critical stance towards their own weaknesses and former failures. We argued that the concept of hubris is indeed valuable in the discourse about geoengineering. It also seems to be capable of evaluating different kinds of GE technologies. The worries about hubris become even more appropriate when a proposal is aimed at influencing previously untouched parts of the Earth system.
If GE fails and even worsens the situation, this would be a result of overestimating our technical and epistemic abilities. It would originate in a reluctance to face the fact that we are not able to reliably predict the relevant effects of these techniques. In addition, it would be the result of our moral failure to avoid the mistakes that caused the present problem and to respond to the demands of intra- and intergenerational justice by reducing our emissions. We are tempted to pass on the costs of climate change to the poorer and weaker citizens of the world, and the present generation is tempted to pass the problem on to future generations. And we are tempted to overestimate our technical abilities. This seems to be the case especially when we are faced with apparently ingenious technical solutions which promise us avoiding unwelcome, but morally binding alternatives. The accusation of hubris points to these temptations and thereby helps us to prevent further epistemic and moral failures.14
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