Tutela del patrimonio, civiltà della tecnica e debolezza teorica / Heritage protection, technological culture and theoretical weakness

In the last few decades, the values that have traditionally guided the theoretical approach in the field of restoration (such as truth, beauty, authenticity, etc.) have gradually weakened. At the same time, technical knowledge, traditionally seen as a means to reach goals conceived in a theoretical context, has increased remarkably. In the recent past, each of the theoretical positions – such as conservation, restoration, re-use, renovation, etc. – has exploited technology for its own ideas and has used progress to reach its goals. However, we now have an inversion of trend: technology has corroded ideas and goals. As the philosopher Emanuele Severino has argued, the instruments which man possesses, have the tendency to transform themselves: they transform from means into goals. Thanks to its capability to offer efficient and cost-effective solutions, technology has relegated theory to the background. Technology feeds on itself, generating needs that will be satisfied by further technological advances, while theory is suffering dramatically, as it is only able to rough out generic horizons. This paper proposes some reflections on the importance of integrating theory into technological and scientific processes, in order to impose external restrictions related to ethics, authenticity and responsibility.