Responsibility of Scientists: What Duties in the Struggle for Knowledge?

The notion of "social responsibility" is invoked today in many political and social debates. The new issues raised by the emergence of biotechnologies call on this notion. Indeed, many surveys show that biotechnologies, like genetic engineering of plants and animals, arouse fears and concerns among consumers and citizens. The scientific community, conscious of its role in the building of the mutual trust between researchers and society, is looking for ways to tackle this situation. But, what can be done? Many believe that scientists should be more socially responsible. However, what do we mean when we invoke the notion of social responsibility? Due to the complexity of this notion, its common and frequent use seems more a problem than a solution! As a primary distinction, the concept of "social responsibility" must be understood in its "prospective" meaning, according to Hans Jonas. At the difference of "retrospective responsibility," which deals with actions accomplished in the past and which is linked to notions of fault/sanction and imputation, "prospective" responsibility is concerned with actions "to be" accomplished and proposes a kind of "scientist ideal." Prospective responsibility is linked to the role assumed by a person or a group in a specific context, a role made up of different duties and obligations. What are the duties and obligations of scientists? This question is the topic of our research. To answer this question, we have chosen to study the role of scientists as depicted in the discourse of famous scientists. Those scientists are James Watson, Jacques Testart, Albert Einstein, Axel Khan, Gilles Eric Seralini, Louis-Marie Houdebine, Mae-wan Ho. What does Einstein think about its role within society? What are defended by Khan, Testart, Seralini? What do they declare about the promotion of intellectual liberty? What do they claim on the respect of human dignity and autonomy? In this poster, we will announce our first results. This poster presentation is also a privilege way for me to initiate a dialogue with "real" scientific researchers: How do you understand yourself your role of researcher? Which duties are you standing up for in your struggle for knowledge?