Lectures / 28/09/2009 7:30 pm
Truth?
Science Without Limits? The accountability of scientists
Whether you choose genetics, nanotechnology or IT as your text, the conclusions will be uncannily similar: modern science has thrown open the doors on almost boundless possibilities. There’s hardly a dream left that has been dreamt by humanity presumably since its first beginnings that does not seem capable of being realized eventually. Yet is it legitimate for us to do anything simply because we’re capable of doing it? Are knowledge and feasibility always as beneficial as you might think at first sight? Or is it not the case that there are limits that should be heeded by researchers and technicians – for the sake of the well-being of humanity and of creation? Together we will be exploring the idea of licit and illicit fruits from the “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil” (Gen 2).
Bibliography:
- Günter Altner 1998, Leben in der Hand des Menschen. Die Brisanz des biotechnischen Fortschritts, Darmstadt.
- Jürgen Habermas 2001, Die Zukunft der menschlichen Natur. Auf dem Weg zu einer liberalen Eugenik, Frankfurt/Main.
- Eberhard Schockenhoff 1993, Ethik des Lebens, Mainz.
- Peter Singer 19841/ 19942, Praktische Ethik, Stuttgart.
- Die deutschen Bischöfe 2001, Der Mensch: sein eigener Schöpfer. Zu Fragen von Gentechnik und Biomedizin.
