The philosophy of sustainability
Description
Engineers often learn to think about sustainability in a rather instrumental way: how to calculate environmental impacts, how to design in such a way that a product puts less burden on the environment during its life cycle, and so on. The philosophy of sustainability tries to uncover the underlying values: what are principle choices that determine the interpretation of that instrumental? Some of these choices are: do I see humans as no more than a part of the environment or do they occupy a special place, does nature have an intrinsic value or is it there only for the benefit of humans. What assumptions are there in the concept of sustainability (what is "responsibility" for a genus that is not even there yet? Is there a hidden eternity perspective in the concept of sustainability?). What presuppositions are there in a movement like Cradle-to-Cradle (is all waste food?).
The programme will consist of an introductory lecture, followed by a discussion with attendees.
Speaker(s)
Marc J. de Vries is extraordinary professor of Christian philosophy at Delft University of Technology, ordinary professor of Science Education at the same institution and associate professor of philosophy and ethics of technology at Eindhoven University of Technology. He studied experimental physics at VU University Amsterdam and obtained his PhD at Eindhoven University of Technology on a physics subject-didactic dissertation.
Location
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.