The last two decades have seen profound social and economic changes in all areas of
our lives. To name but a few: borders have become both more open and more closed. We
have witnessed unprecedented levels of technological development: from new medical
technologies such as genetic engineering and cloning, to communication technologies such
as the internet and new modes of warfare. Environmental degradation and climate change
are now a daily reality.
On the one hand, we have gained considerable freedoms and opportunities (to shape our
children, to access information, to use the internet as a tool for democratic governance,
to travel, to exchange information, etc.). On the other hand, we are increasingly
vulnerable to breaches of privacy and autonomy (such as identify theft), to denials of
our freedoms (through, e.g., anti-terrorist legislation), to growing inequalities and
distrust within heterogeneous societies, and to extreme forms of violence.
The conference aims to examine the ethical implications of those changes. Can familiar,
well known theories of rights, freedom and justice easily accommodate those changes?
Ought we to embrace the latter?