Synthetic Biology: a philosophical perspective

[moya]

Dear colleagues:

I would like to point out that Synthetic Biology (SB) is at the core of some of the classical problems of Philosophy: what humans are doing here? There has been a permanent debate in Occidental thought on the relative role played by rationalism and scientific versus theological explanation of nature. Starting with some of the first greek philosophers until Nietzsche there has been a central although not well treated thesis on the increasing power of man to control their own destiny. SB is one of the last adventures where such thesis is present. To have the keys of our destiny in our hands is an extremely serious question that requires a serious and deep thought. At the present stage of our civiliazation we cannot avoid to deal with it and we must be brave to direct our mind to think in a World completely dependent on our own intelectual forces.

Andrés Moya