Interviews by the IHU Strasbourg

A Call for an Ethical Revolution

Our world is in the midst of a major transition. Never before in the history of modern humanity have we faced so many challenges.

The concept of progress is being replaced by an explosion of technological discoveries that are profoundly changing the world… and humanity.

This dizzying leap propels us into a future that our survival instinct makes us perceive as uncertain.

What a paradox! We have never had so much wealth and so many solutions, and yet we feel as though we are stumbling toward our future, destabilized by a profound existential crisis.

How should we respond to this? The immense demographic, health, environmental, and geopolitical constraints seem to leave us stunned.

So, shouldn’t we return to the fundamentals—that is, re-examine progress with a different approach that cannot be exclusively technological?

Let us not be swept away by a technophile mythology of “The future is now,” which conveys self-fulfilling prophecies of “TINA” (So in a sense we do have to do it. There really is No Alternative).

Let us return to science, art, and philosophy, mindful that this must not be done in an elitist manner, but with a unifying commitment that allows everyone to understand and bring this new narrative to life.

We must make the immense effort to bring together even the most disadvantaged, despite their oppressive life circumstances, to restore a collective momentum for as many people as possible. The challenge remains to find the keys to the method.

I am convinced that science can be a tremendous resource, but “it is not enough to know; one must apply. It is not enough to want; one must act. But how can one act, if not with conscience?” (Goethe).

Science gives us immense power, but only ethics can show us how to use it. Ethics is, above all, a work of humility.

Let us remember that “science has made us gods even before we deserved to be human” (Jean Rostand).

This ethical debate is fundamental, but we must now approach it with a multidimensional perspective. These dimensions are biomedical, technological (AI), environmental, sociological, anthropological, and philosophical.

Science, which grants humanity unprecedented power, must adhere to “a principle of universal responsibility” (Albert Schweitzer, Hans Jonas) in the service of a more humanistic vision of society.

This vision must be democratically debated with a profound commitment to “global” justice that takes into account the immense diversity of our societies.

Medical bioethics can no longer be separated from a “global bioethical” vision, mindful of the interdependence of everything that makes up our ecosystems. More specifically, this bioethics must adapt to major changes in human health, which is threatened by an environment we are destroying.

In the case of “complex” diseases caused by increasingly well-understood interactions between exposomes and humans, we must revisit our ethical standards by referring to a fundamental principle: respect for all that is “life” and all that enables this “life” in our world.

In practical terms, we are facing a major challenge.

Today and tomorrow, how do we evaluate everything that research will uncover? We must be able to identify the most relevant innovations by measuring not only their environmental impact but also their affordability, so that as many people as possible can benefit from them.

This is a colossal challenge that will reshape the bioethical approach. To achieve this, we must pool our wisdom and “speak” to as many people as possible so that the evolution of our societies is also an ethical revolution.

The path is narrow, but this great journey is vital!

May this “Science and Society” conference dedicated to research ethics be a defining moment. Many more will be needed… but let each of us contribute that touch of determination that can change the world a little, but above all, preserve it.

“The goal of science is to understand the world, not to dominate it” (Hubert Reeves)

Jean SIBILIA

Speakers

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