Today our Third Form attended a series of lecture sessions by eminent philosopher Dr Vardy. The theme of the morning was the fascinating areas where Science and Religion can often have a mutual focus.
In their first session, our pupils debated what it means to be human - from Plato and Aristotle through Aquinas and C19th century approaches (Feuerbach, etc.). Fulfilling human potential and what this might mean. Genetics and the human person. Increasing infertility, Genetic selection of embryos and modification of embryos using CrispR. Transhumanism, Elon Musk and Neuralink. The boundaries, if any, between A.I. and human beings. They ended the session debating whether there is an ethical duty to breed for human genetic success.
The second session covered 'the universe'. From steady-state theory to the singularity and beyond. The development of the universe and the improbability of the initial conditions. Alternative explanations and their plausibility. Relativity in ethics and the nature and source of mathematics as a challenge to this. Science and its different disciplines and the great unanswered questions. Culminating in a discussion about the most probable explanation for the universe.
In their final session, pupils discussed medical ethics including the beginning and end of life. Starting with the Hippocratic oath and the development of medical ethics to include the principles of autonomy and justice. The challenge posed by an aging population and the advent of Artificial Intelligence as a possible solution. Whether life has any meaning except one based on utilitarianism and what this means. Peter Singer and speciesism as well as the challenge to the sanctity of life principle. The morning finished with a lively debate on the Sanctity of Life.
