International Center for Ethics in the Sciences and Humanities (IZEW)

Latest articles

28th November 2023

Walking between the Worlds

Is security a technical or a social task? Anyone researching civil security in Germany will be confronted with this question at some point. The trivial answer is "both". But this does not solve the problems at the interfaces between security technologies and social values. This raises another question: How does good security research actually work?

Article 

14th November 2023

Keeping Livestock in Africa

Not least to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2 - Zero hunger -, there is much discussion and experimentation in the African context on the intensification of so called ‘neglected’ livestock species. In the following, we will examine the idea of intensification from a Sustainable Development and ethical perspective. 

Article 

24th October 2023

Data Protection in the Smart Home

When people live in a smart home, they often cannot see where a camera is running, where a microphone might be recording something or where other data is being collected. The DAMA project aims to improve this situation and has developed a prototype that informs users about data collection and gives them back control over their data.

Article 


Blog Categories

24th October 2023

Data Protection in the Smart Home

When people live in a smart home, they often cannot see where a camera is running, where a microphone might be recording something or where other data is being collected. The DAMA project aims to improve this situation and has developed a prototype that informs users about data collection and gives them back control over their data.

Article 

10th October 2023

Child, nature and their relationship

In order to come closer to the goal of a sustainability-oriented transformation of society, we need mature and creative people who approach complex issues openly and courageously. To this end, it is important to enable children to experience failure, self-efficacy and the challenge of difficult situations in a protected setting. A learning space of this kind can be provided by nature experience spaces.

Article 

14th November 2023

Keeping Livestock in Africa

Not least to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2 - Zero hunger -, there is much discussion and experimentation in the African context on the intensification of so called ‘neglected’ livestock species. In the following, we will examine the idea of intensification from a Sustainable Development and ethical perspective. 

Article 

28th November 2023

Walking between the Worlds

Is security a technical or a social task? Anyone researching civil security in Germany will be confronted with this question at some point. The trivial answer is "both". But this does not solve the problems at the interfaces between security technologies and social values. This raises another question: How does good security research actually work?

Article 

25th April 2022

Racial violence of climate change 

In popular discourse, climate change is usually framed as an ‘environmental issue’ – a matter of ‘saving the planet’ or caring for nature. It is also about people, about justice, and about power. And when we pause to look at who is most affected, there is a clear racial dimension. Climate change can be understood as violence against people of colour, and seeing it in that way gives a new urgency to climate action.

Article 

26th September 2023

Insights and Impact

In May, a symposium titled "Social Justice and Technological Futures" took place in the old town of Tübingen, bringing together a group of individuals from different corners of the globe. Participants shed light on the societal injustices embedded within technologies as well as solutions for just technological futures from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Article 

1st August 2023

Computer games as empathy machines?

Can computer games make us more empathetic people? This is what the discussion about so-called "empathy games" seems to promise; after all, these games are supposed to promote empathic reactions and altruistic behaviour in real life as well. However, there is also criticism of the pro-empathy discourse. High time to take a closer look at the debate.

Article 

21st February 2022

Consulting or "ethical coating"?

Ethics counseling in the health care sector is increasingly not provided by external experts, but by grassroots trained employees from within the company, who either act as counselors themselves or, for example, conduct an ethical case discussion (...)

Article 

18th April 2023

Ashes of the Dead as a Matter of Dispute

Autonomy has become the magic word of modern society and people are increasingly empowered to decide for themselves what is good for them and what is not. Among many other areas, this also affects the contemporary approach to the end of life. Not least when it comes to the whereabouts of mortal remains, there are more options available today than ever before. But there is not always harmonious agreement among relatives when it comes to arranging the "last things"; sometimes interests in self-determination clash with bureaucratic regulatory efforts. What this can mean in detail will be discussed using a concrete example that receives little attention in everyday social life: the private storage of ashes of the dead, which is forbidden in Germany but nevertheless practised in isolated cases.

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