JOURNAL CLUB:
RESEARCH LABORATORY ON CHEMISTRY EDUCATION AND HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF
CHEMISTRY,
UNIVERSITY OF SOFIA (BULGARIA)
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Social and Ethical Issues of Nanotechnologies
Joachim Schummer
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Abstract:
Since about 2000, nanotechnologies have become a central research focus in
many countries and disciplines, accompanied by an unprecedented growth of
funding and institutionalizing the field. At the same time,
nanotechnologies have increasingly caused public fears and exaggerated
hopes, fueled by visions of nanotechnology's revolutionary change of
virtually every aspect of our life. Based on the author's long-term
involvement in ethics research projects, committees, and expert groups,
the lecture provides a survey of the five most important ethical and
social issues of nanotechnologies: (1) managing risks with regard to
nanoparticles; (2) maintaining responsibility with regard to nanodevices;
(3) managing nanotechnological visions at the interface between science
and society; (4) assessing nanotechnology agendas from an ethical point of
view; and (5) considering the economic impact of nanotechnological
developments with regard to global justice.
Biographical Information: Joachim Schummer is Heisenberg Research Fellow
at the University of Darmstadt. He graduated both in chemistry and
philosophy and received his Ph.D. (1994) and Habilitation (2002) in
philosophy from the University of Karlsruhe. From 2003 to 2004, he was
Visiting Professor at the University of South Carolina, USA, where he was
Director of Project Research of an interdisciplinary team to study the
social and ethical implications of nanotechnology. He has subsequently
been Adjunct Professor at the University of South Carolina, Visiting
Fellow at the Center for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the
Australian National University, and Visiting Professor at the University
of Sofia. His research interests focus on the history, philosophy,
sociology, and ethics of science and technology, with emphasis on
chemistry and, since 2002, nanotechnology. His recent book publications
include Discovering the Nanoscale (2004, 2nd ed. 2005), Nanotechnology
Challenges (2006), and Nanotechnologien im Kontext (2006), and The Public
Image of Chemistry (2007 forthcoming). He is the founding editor of Hyle:
International Journal for Philosophy of Chemistry (since 1995) and serves
on various international committees, including the UNESCO expert group on
Nanotechnology and Ethics.
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This public lecture will be delivered by Dr. Schummer on
22 May, 2007, Tuesday, 5:00 pm
Hall 108 (Faculty Council Hall)
Faculty of Chemistry, University of Sofia,
1 James Bourcchier Blvd., 1164 Sofia
Buses 94, 102, 88 and 120; trams 10 and 18
Everyone is wery welcome!
From the organizers
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