Ethics, Theory and History of the Life Sciences
With its own professorship (held by Thomas Potthast) in the Department of Biology, there is a unique and permanent place for philosophical-interdisciplinary research and teaching in the field of ethics, theory and history of the life sciences.
Ethical questions arise with reference to new findings and technologies in numerous areas such as genetics and molecular biology, neurosciences or ecology and nature conservation.
Integrating also philosophy and history of science, application-oriented ethics deals with these topics from an interdisciplinary perspective.Altogether, research and teaching should contribute to critically reflect knowledge and implications of bioscience research, eventually fostering their integration into a comprehensive view of humankind and biodiversity.Further perspectives are also engaged with regard to the challenges of sustainable development.
We collaborate closelywith the university-wide International Centre for Ethics in the Sciences and Humanities (IZEW).