Putting ethics back at the heart of science
For the second writing workshop in the series he’s giving to students in their 3rd year graduate studies, the author Metin Arditi is bringing together various members of the EPFL community around questions of ethics and philosophy.
“Art and science have a lot in common, and their interactions can only lead to mutual enrichment.” Metin Arditi has a strong belief in an interdisciplinary approach. A renowned author, businessman, philanthropist and scientist – he studied physics at EPFL – he embodies this osmosis between many different worlds. He will be putting this know-how into practice for the second consecutive year, in the writing workshop he is giving for students in their 3rd year graduate studies at the College of Humanities (CDH).
Named this year as “artist in residence” by the President of the school, he is responsible for initiating interaction between an art form and the institution. As a consequence, he had the idea of broadening the profile of his course, and making it a genuine event for the campus.
“Over three semesters, we’re going to experience a fusion of the arts and science, but also of different members of the EPFL community”, explains Metin Arditi.
His project will be structured in three phases. First of all, he asked three renowned professors to join with him: Olaf Blanke, of the Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Pierre Magistretti, of the Laboratory of Neuroenergetics and Cellular Dynamics, and Majed Chergui, of the Laboratory of Ultrafast Spectroscopy. He asked them to look ten to twenty years into the future, and to imagine what ethical questions and debates on society will result from their work.
“I appreciate very much Metin Arditi’s initiative”, emphasizes Majed Chergui, “as I believe that it’s important to raise this debate in the world of science, on questions of ethics and philosophy. To question ourselves on the influence and the importance of our findings as scietists, to return to an attitude based on doubt, and put the general interest at the center of our preoccupations – these should be part of our everyday activity”.
In a second phase, the reflections of these professors will help in the elaboration of three “roadmaps”, which will be provided to the students as the beginning of the course, in the Spring term. They will be able to choose the problem that interests them the most. On this basis, they will be asked to write a monolog or a dialog. They will be required to look, in their turn, into the future, and to put themselves in the place of a person who is confronted with these important ethical questions, and who must take a decision.
Lastly, to mark all the work and effort, an open evening will be organized at the beginning of the fall semester 2011. To start with, actors who will also be from the EPFL community will play the three best scenes written by the course participants. Then a debate will take place on the theme of new knowledge and the ethical questions they raise, with a panel of guests composed of several science personalities, among whom will be the three professors associated with the project.
The course will be held in the spring at a rhythm of two hours every 15 days, on Tuesdays from 13:00 to 15:00. It will run over 14 weeks. The deadline for registering is March 4.
Picture: (c) Olivander