Research project ‘Tomorrow’s value Conflicts’ awarded 50.000 Euro research grant

The 21st century will require applying ethical insights to highly complex environmental and technological challenges. On the one hand, the decisions we make today about CO2 emissions, the use of scarce natural resources, and non-renewable energy will define the ethical dilemmas of the future. On the other hand, enhancement technologies offer human beings the chance to upgrade their bodies, eliminate common illnesses, and prolong their lifespans. While ecological changes constitute existential threats to life itself, enhancement technologies stand to transform the very meaning of human flourishing.

Both challenges complicate the ethical conflicts that future generations will be forced to resolve and situate today’s ethicists onto unfamiliar terrain. Tackling these problems requires us to grapple with sets of questions: Which value frameworks should we apply to impending ecological and technological challenges? How can ethicists and engineers evaluate new technologies before future generations directly experience their consequences? How can ethicists and engineers understand future value conflicts? Can empirical data better equip them to deal with emerging ethical challenges?

The scientist’s in ‘Tomorrow’s value Conflicts’ research team are: Matthew Dennis (TU/e), Lily Frank (TU/e), Minha Lee (TU/e), Vincent Blok (WUR), Chao Zhang (TU/e), Steven Kraaijeveld (WUR), Sven Nyholm (UU).  

About the award

The research project is one of three selected by the alliance of TU/e, WUR, UU and UMC Utrecht, for research that shapes and facilitates the long-term partnership between the institutions. The research projects are innovative and multi-disciplinary and focus on the health of humans and animals.