Ethics in chaos

human subjectivity in Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy

Abstract

Dystopia, in its concept as a society, involves a pessimistic scenario that is usually the result of a utopia. Thus, the dystopian context experienced in the MaddAddam trilogy (2013) presents an intensification of technological manipulation and the expansion of the capitalist system alongside a state weakened by the dominance of large corporations. Factors arising from this turn towards neoliberalism include greater social inequality, destruction, scarcity of natural resources, and violence. With the expansion of technological innovations, the transhuman utopian notion of human enhancement is fostered, distancing bodies from their organic nature. In this way, amidst the chaos and alienation of individuals, an ethical crisis is observed to establish itself in the trilogy, which condemns human actions and subjectivity as responsible for the collapse of society, proposing the extinction of the species as a solution to the Anthropocene. Therefore, this work seeks to reflect on the developments of ethics amid social chaos linked to human subjectivity, highlighting how the MaddAddam trilogy offers a critique of the consequences of a society that combines unrestrained technology with predatory capitalism. By exploring the ethical and moral dilemmas that emerge in this scenario, the work provokes reflection on the chaotic future of humanity and the destruction of social and environmental systems, questioning whether the path taken by current development can truly be sustained under the vision of progress or total collapse. Thus, the trilogy not only narrates a story amid the Anthropocene but also serves as a warning of the imminent dangers of humanity's subjective and unethical choices.