Description

Technology is invaluable to our society. Our quality of life has changed and improved in unimaginable ways during the last few decades thanks to technological developments. Think of household appliances, housing, transport, infrastructure, automation, and the enormous development in information technology in the last few years alone, making us always reachable and able to access immeasurable sources of information.

But these developments unfortunately also come at a price. Some people find it difficult not to be reachable from time to time. Our use of transport modes leads to major environmental damage. When technologies do not function properly or are used incorrectly, it can lead to huge disasters. Think of the BP oil spill off the US coast, or the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Of many technologies, we do not really know whether and under what circumstances they can be dangerous. This often leads to major conflicts in society, with lay people generally wary of new technological developments. Recent examples in the Netherlands include CO2 storage under a residential area in Barendrecht and vaccination against cervical cancer in young girls. Technology thus has both positive and also negative values for society, and it is often difficult to predict exactly how these values will manifest themselves. This fact requires thorough reflection on technology, on what we find valuable and on how to deal with risks.

Emotions such as fear appear to laypeople to be an important factor in whether or not we accept risks. This is why some scientists are sceptical about involving lay people in decision-making about risky technologies. They think emotions are irrational and that we should exclude emotion-based considerations from our thinking about risk and rely purely on cost-benefit analysis. But according to another understanding of emotions, this is a questionable conclusion. In her research, the speaker argues that emotions can and should play a crucial role in moral reflection on risky technologies. In her lecture, she will review the most important insights from my research.

Prof.dr Sabine Roeser (1970, Haan, Germany) is professor of ethics at Delft University of Technology, where she holds a prestigious Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Chair for excellent young scholars. She also holds a temporary part-time chair (a Socrates professorship) for political philosophy and ethics of technology at Twente University. Sabine Roeser is head of a research group on Moral Emotions and Risk Politics, funded with prestigious VIDI- and Aspasia-grants from NWO (Netherlands Organisation of Scientific Research; 2010-2015).

Speaker(s)

She previously held a highly competitive VENI-grant from NWO (2005-2009) and a NIAS fellowship from the Royal Dutch Academy of the Sciences (KNAW; 2009-2010). Roeser did her PhD in 2002 at the Free University Amsterdam. During her PhD she studied a semester with Jonathan Dancy at the University of Reading with a prestigious British Chevening Scholarship, and she studied one semester at the Philosophy Department of the University of Notre Dame. Roeser holds MA degrees in philosophy (1997, cum laude) and political science (1998, both from the University of Amsterdam), and a BA degree from the Academy of Fine Arts in Maastricht (1994). Roeser is regularly interviewed for popular media in the Netherlands. She is a member of various advisory boards for the Dutch government. Roeser has organised many conferences with internationally leading keynote speakers. She has a unique interdisciplinary network in the areas emotions, ethics, and risk. Roeser has given more than 150 presentations at international conferences and other academic events. She has published numerous articles and books.

Location

Conference Centre, Vredenburg 19

Utrecht

Organiser

Philosophy & Technology

Name and contact details for information

Further information from drs.ing. Henk Uijttenhout (vz), tel: 070 - 3875293 / 06 - 26715554 or via the e-mail address below

hbmuijttenhout@hotmail.com