French Philosopher To Deliver Lecture At Florida Tech
By Space Coast Daily // June 14, 2012
Ethics Discussion
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – A renowned French ethics philosopher will deliver a free lecture from 2 to 5:30 p.m. June 21 at Florida Institute of Technology.
Jacques Arnould, who serves as an ethics adviser for CNES, the French Space Agency, will talk about ethics and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), in conjunction with the International Space University.
The ISU is conducting its 25th Space Studies Program at Florida Tech and the Kennedy Space Center in Brevard County through Aug. 3.
Arnould’s lecture will be in the F.W. Olin Engineering Building, Room 118. The building is at 150 W. University Boulevard in Melbourne.
He will address the STEM/ISU students of Florida Tech University Professor Guy Boy and will remain in the room until 5:30 p.m. to answer questions.
Since 2001, CNES has engaged a new project, ethics as a new frontier for space enterprise, which opens up every domain of space activities for investigation: space debris and planetary protection, utilization of remote sensing data and geopositioning, space exploitation, military activities and space tourism, human space flight and extraterrestrial life.
“All these topics offer the opportunity to confirm the human dimension of space science and technology; there must be a strong interrogation into human condition and destiny,” said Arnould, who advises CNES about the ethical, social and cultural dimensions of space activities.
Arnould, who teaches at the Institut Catholique in Paris, was awarded a silver medal in 2004 from the Académie Francaise in the Literature and Philosophy category for his book, The Devil’s Whiskers.
An agricultural engineer and holder of a doctorate in science history and theology, he is especially interested in two themes: life and its evolution and outer space and its conquest.
Approximately 130 post-graduate university students from 31 countries are attending the two-month 2012 ISU/SSP to learn about all aspects of space programs and enterprises.
For information about the June 21 lecture, call Delilah Caballero at 321-209-4960 or send an email todcaballe@fit.edu.
