4th EucheMs chemistry congress

wednesday, 29-Aug 2012
s631
chem. Listy 106, s587–s1425 (2012)
Education and History, Professional chemists Ethics, Employability, labels
special symposium: Ethics in science – ii
o - 2 8 0
CuLturAL reStrAinS of SCienCe
J. vetuLAni 1
1 Institute of Pharmacology Pol. Acad. Sci, Brain Biochemnistry,
Krakow, Poland
Humans invented two strategies to dominate the world:
science and culture. Those two components of civilization are
often in conflict.
Culture is older. Social groups always functioned basing on
beliefs which may be objectively false but determine the social
activities and norms of conduct which serve the survival of the
group. Those beliefs, rules, and resulting activities form culture.
Science aims at objective understanding the world, regardless of
its consequences on human emotions, worldview, and social
functioning.
Both science and culture were formed by the brain, which
is the organ of survival and not of cognition of the world, and it
often gives solutions which are at odds with science but
pragmatically relevant. The biological purpose of religion is not
understanding the universe but securing the group’s cohesion
necessary for its survival. Science emerged only when it appeared
that the objective knowledge of the world may increase fitness.
The conflicts between science and culture emerge when the
scientific methods of gathering knowledge offend cultural norms,
or when scientific discoveries demonstrate that the foundations
of those norms are based on misconceptions.
Biomedical research was particularly often blocked by
rulings resulting from cultural norms: today vivisection
experiments on humans would be unthinkable. Bioethics, a very
modern cultural product, effectively interferes with the progress
of science (moratoria on human cloning, restrictions on studying
genetically modified organisms and limitation on animal
experiments).
Culture is threatened by development of science, resulting
in constant downgrading of the position of man from its culturally
sanctioned place at the top of material world.
One source of the culture-science conflict is the fact that
axioms, methodology, and emotional involvement of humanists
in the discussed problems are often completely alien to scientists.
Better understanding of the world requires looking for a common
language and mutual tolerance of science and culture.
special symposium: Ethics in science – ii
4 th EucheMs chemistry congress
o - 2 8 1
the ethiCAL BASiS of MuLtiLAterAL
environMentAL AGreeMentS
f. MoSer 1 , f. Prof. dondi 1
1 University of Ferrara, Chemistry, Ferrara, Italy
The United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 saw a number of
groundbreaking outcomes, such as Agenda 21, a blueprint for a
global partnership for sustainable development in the 21st century
and the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development with its
27 principles. The Conference was also the birthplace for a series
of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs).
In the chemicals field, the Conference gave impetus for the
adoption of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic
Pollutants, which entered into force in May 2004. Being the most
recent MEA for the management of chemical substances, the
underlying values of the Convention embrace contemporary
principles in the context of environmental ethics, such as sustainable
development, the principle of common but differentiated
responsibilities [1] , the ‘polluter pays’ principle [2] or the precautionary
principle [3] .
We argue that particularly chemists nowadays should have a
moral obligation to put into practice the ethical commitments that
are inherent to those MEAs. It is thus highly relevant to consider
[4, 5]
these aspects both as research and educational topics.
references:
1. Principle 7 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and
Development
2. Principle 16 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and
Development
3. White Paper: Strategy for a Future Chemicals Policy.
Commission of the European Communities, Brussels.
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/com/
2001/com2001_0088en01.pdf
4. Frank, Hartmut, Luigi Campanella, Francesco Dondi,
Jan Mehlich, Erich Leitner, Giuseppe Rossi,
Karine Ndjoko Ioset, and Gerhard Bringmann. 2011.
Ethics, Chemistry, and Education for Sustainability.
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 50, 8482–90
5. Moser, Frank and Francesco Dondi. On the road to Rio + 20:
the evolution of environmental ethics for a safer world
(editorial). Toxicological and Environmental Chemistry,
forthcoming.
Keywords: Environmental Ethics; Multilateral Environmental
Agreements; Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic
Pollutants; Rio Earth Summit;
AUGUst 26–30, 2012, PrAGUE, cZEcH rEPUbLIc