EXPANDED REASON CONFERENCES 2022:
HUMAN BEINGS IN CONTEMPORARY SCIENCE

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CONFERENCE HUMAN BEINGS IN CONTEMPORARY SCIENCE

The 5th Expanded Reason Conference, titled “Human Beings in Contemporary Science,” held on 23 and 24 May 2022 at the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, embraced a dual purpose: firstly, to showcase some of the best work and researchers of our time, several of them winners of the latest editions of the Expanded Reason Awards. These speakers will show us the paths being taken in biology, biotechnology, physics, ecology, neuroscience and education to make science more humane. Secondly, the conference also looks to deepen a view of reality that places science on the path of respect and service to man and the world.

In short, we ask ourselves, together with experts, what are the challenges, opportunities and difficulties presented by the different fields of contemporary science in relation to the dignity of the person and the care of their environment? The question is rooted in an awareness that scientific advances will be fruitful provided they are at the service of the growth and development of human beings and society and the communities in which they live.

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María Lacalle, director of the Expanded Reason Institute, had the honor of opening this the fifth edition of the Conference, under the title “The Human Being in Contemporary Science”. During her address, she highlighted the great responsibility in today’s world to make science more humane and to work towards unity of knowledge without skirting the difficulties encountered. She also referenced Pope John Paul II’s for study of serious contemporary problems such as human dignity, the promotion of justice, the protection of nature, the search for peace and a new economic order that better serves the community. Research, in her opinion, should be directed at the root of the problems by seeking creative solutions.

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    ROUND TABLES

    EDUCATION: A PATH TO MEANING

    The first round table entitled “Education: A Path to Meaning” focused on reflection on integral education. The focus of the discussion, led by John Slattery, Curtis Baxter, James Arthur, Verónica Fernández and chaired by Antonio Sastre, was education in the broadest sense, going beyond mere instruction and transmission of knowledge, encompassing the mentorship and support of the student on the path to fulfillment, developing all its dimensions to achieve happiness. An education, therefore, geared towards asking ultimate questions that affect the core of existence, because, although there may seem to be indifference in the classrooms, in the heart of every student there is a longing for answers.

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    THE WONDER OF THE WORLD THROUGH QUANTUM PHYSICS AND ECOLOGY

    The second round table of the Conference, entitled “The Wonder of the World Through Quantum Physics and Ecology” was led by Michael Taylor and Javier Sánchez Cañizares.

    Michael Taylor proposed discovering the metaphysics of the gift in order to appreciate the beauty of creation. Awe, in philosophical terms, demonstrates the humility one must have before reason, for it is exposed to an overabundant objective reality that becomes intelligible. He explained that the world communicates truth and beauty so that the human being receives the gift of wonder and this, precisely, reminds us that man is limited, but that he can also embrace a portion of reality.

    Javier Sánchez Cañizares remarked that the scientist’s wonder comes from living in a world that is not chaotic, from knowing that it will not explode into a thousand pieces in a few seconds, since there are a series of stable patterns. “It is part of the sense of mystery,” said Professor Sánchez Cañizares, but not as an excess that shows human limits, but as an amazement at the ability to understand how the processes of nature work, something that Albert Einstein himself recognized.

    The 5th Expanded Reason Conference, titled “Human Beings in Contemporary Science,”, held on 23 and 24 May 2022 at the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, embraced a dual purpose: firstly, to showcase some of the best work and researchers of our time, several of them winners of the latest editions of the Expanded Reason Awards. These speakers will show us the paths being taken in biology, biotechnology, physics, ecology, neuroscience and education to make science more humane. Secondly, the conference also looks to deepen a view of reality that places science on the path of respect and service to man and the world.

    In short, we ask ourselves, together with experts, what are the challenges, opportunities and difficulties presented by the different fields of contemporary science in relation to the dignity of the person and the care of their environment? The question is rooted in an awareness that scientific advances will be fruitful provided they are at the service of the growth and development of human beings and society and the communities in which they live.

    I WANT TO KNOW MORE

    ARE WE PHYSICALLY AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY DETERMINED? NEUROSCIENCE AND PSYCHOLOGY IN DIALOGUE

    The third round table was held under the title “Are we physically and psychologically determined? Neuroscience and Psychology in Dialogue”.. To answer the question as to whether the human being is physically and psychologically determined, Paul Vitz presented a Catholic Christian metamodel in which he defends free will from three points of view: the way in which life can be known (experience of conscience), the choice of the therapeutic process to develop the virtues, and the spiritual life it entails (soul capable of choosing god).

    Therese Lysaught, along with her fellow researchers, has discovered where the idea that neuroscience is determined comes from. They identified a correlation between economics and virtue, since if there was prosperity, it came from being virtuous, so that a whole cultural anthropology was rooted in the most recent version of the  homo economicus. They also found that there was a case of biological determinism, based on medication and the reduction of psychological problems to a genetic issue, which departs from the person-centered model and neglects the social context. For this reason, she has encouraged the creation of open spaces that address pertinent questions and establish an interdisciplinary dialogue.

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    BIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY AT THE SERVICE OF THE HUMAN QUESTION

    The fourth round table of the Conference was entitled “Biology and Biotechnology at the service of the human question”. One of the first topics covered was the impact of a new genetic engineering tool (CRISPR) that makes it possible to modify the genome and correct alterations responsible for serious diseases. The thesis of Maureen Condic‘s book is that, even if time is reduced and accuracy improved, it is alarming to use human embryos because they are destroyed and the composition of a person is changed: “There is no accurate information on the influence this tool has on people and the negative effects cannot be anticipated”. Luis Miguel Pastor, Professor of Cell Biology at the Universidad de Murcia and President of the Spanish Association of Bioethics and Medical Ethics (AEBI) also participated in this round table.
    With regard to interspecies chimeras, known as hybrids between animal and human, it was explained that the creation of an entity without a clear ontological status is reason enough to reject it: “the act of incorporating cells, both in reproduction and in the brain, raises serious ethical and philosophical problems; it is impossible to know where the animal stops being human or vice versa.” On the issue of abortion, he declared that the embryo is a scientifically proven human being and that there was an increasing scientific consensus on the presence of human life in the first weeks of embryonic gestation.
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    EXPANDED REASON AWARDS CEREMONY

    The Awards Ceremony, which concluded the Expanded Reason Conferences, brought together the winners of the 4th and 5th editions who, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, were unable to receive their awards in previous years.

    The Vice-Chancellor of the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, Daniel Sada, and the executive secretary of the  Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation, Pierluca Azzaro, gave welcoming remarks congratulating the winners and highlighting the importance of the mission of the Expanded Reason Awards in the university world as a service to society.

    The winners of both editions took to the stage to receive their awards and thanked their home universities and institutions and their colleagues on their working teams. All emphasized that the fruit of their work would not have been possible without their teams and wider communities.

    THE WINNERS AND THEIR WORKS

    The Awards Ceremony, which concluded the Expanded Reason Conferences, brought together the winners of the 4th and 5th editions who, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, were unable to receive their awards in previous years.

    The Vice-Chancellor of the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, Daniel Sada, and the executive secretary of the  Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation, Pierluca Azzaro, gave welcoming remarks congratulating the winners and highlighting the importance of the mission of the Expanded Reason Awards in the university world as a service to society.

    The winners of both editions took to the stage to receive their awards and thanked their home universities and institutions and their colleagues on their working teams. All emphasized that the fruit of their work would not have been possible without their teams and wider communities.

    %name EXPANDED REASON CONFERENCES 2022 Estudiar en Universidad Privada Madrid

    4TH EDITION

    Teaching Character Virtues – A Neo-Aristotelian Approach

    James A. Arthur (University of Birmingham).

    Catholic Christian Meta-Model of the Person: Integration of Psychology and Mental Health Practice

    Paul C. Vitz, William J. Nordling and Craig Steven Titus (Divine Mercy University).

    Human Embryos. Human Beings. A Scientific and Philosophical Approach

    Samuel B. Condic (University of St. Thomas, Houston) and Maureen L. Condic (University of Utah).

    What’s the matter? Toward a neo-Aristotelian ontology of nature

    William M. R. Simpson (University of Cambridge).

    5TH EDITION

    Science for seminaries

    John Slattery, Curtis L. Baxter, Katharine Hinman and Jennifer J. Wiseman (American Association for the Advancement of Science).

    What it means to be human: the case for the body in public bioethics

    Carter Snead (University of Notre Dame).

    Biopolitics after neuroscience: morality and the economy of virtue

    Jeffrey Bishop (Saint Louis University / Albert Gnaegi Center for Health Care Ethics), Andrew Michel (Vanderbilt University School of Medicine) y Therese Lysaught (Loyola University Chicago).

    The foundations of nature: metaphysics of gift for an integral ecological ethic

    Michael Dominic Taylor (Edith Stein Philosophy Institute / International Laudato Si´Institute). Mención de Honor

    The Gospel of Happiness

    Christopher Kaczor (Loyola Marymount University).