ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

The European Ethics Network
The summit conference is an intitiative of the European Ethics Network: a European association of university centres of ethics and associations of ethicists which is officially endorsed by the European Commission as a thematic network. The conference is the result of intensive cooperation between the European Ethics Network and the major ethics associations and networks such as EBEN (European Business Ethics Network), Societas Ethica (European Society for Research in Ethics), EurSafe (European Society for Agricultural and Food Ethics) and EACME (European Association of Centres of Medical Ethics). As a joint venture it marks an historical milestone in so far as members of these associations will meet together for the first time around a common programme.

Background to the ethics summit:
Never before in the history of humankind have so many ethical issues been discussed.
In our society characterised by profound and rapid changes as a consequence of new scientific, (bio)technological, political and economic developments, the opinions and arguments of ethicists have become an integral part of public debate. There is, however, no new consensus about the relevance of ethical traditions or future frameworks.
Applied ethics however, runs the risk of neglecting one of the most fundamental questions underlying these debates: the status of humanity and 'humaness'.

While some contemporary philosophers proclaim the crisis or end of humanism, the quest for humanity as a moral criterion and the search for meaningful human life persists. More than ever, a new hermeneutic of what it is to be human is called for.