The 12^th International Conference of
	ISSEI	In cooperation With
	International Society for the Study of European Ideas

Section IV: Literature, Art, Music, Theatre, Culture

Workshop: Scientific Rigor and Unbound Imagination in European Literature and The Arts

Chair: Aurelia Roman

“Science sans conscience n’est que ruine de l’âme” wrote the great French humanist, Rabelais, alerting the world at a time when the human knowledge and culture were facing new challenges at the light of intelligence, at a time of extraordinary new discoveries, of societies in full mutation, of the birth of Modern European States and of the switching from Latin to the national languages for legal and scholarly documents.

The interconnection between science and literature is, certainly, expressed both ways. Plato would not let anyone enter his philosophical Academy without knowing the science of geometry. And our fascination for the great works of art of Michelangelo or Da Vinci is a reflexion of their serious study of the sciences of perspective and of the human anatomy.

Born from the inquisitive human mind, Science and Technology as well as Art and Literature share the moral and ethical dilemma to which Rabelais alerted us. Today, with the extraordinary progress of all sciences and particularly with the breathtaking biomedical research and information technology, this dilemma is of an utmost importance. The potential hazards of scientific research and endeavors could endanger the very life of our planet and therefore thinkers, writers and artists must take a stand if we don't want also to lose our very souls.

The participants to this workshop are invited to consider the reciprocal impact between scientists, writers and artists towards a thoughtful and ethical new world.

Aurelia Roman

Georgetown University

romana@georgetown.edu

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