Science Technology and the Human Condition PDF

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Science Technology and the Human ConditionA human rights-based approach to science, technology, and development. One’s human rights in the face of scientific and technological advancement are critical factors in the journey toward Eudaimonia or the good life. Exercise of the right to accept or rejec...

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Science Technology and the Human Condition A human rights-based approach to science, technology, and development. One’s human rights in the face of scientific and technological advancement are critical factors in the journey toward Eudaimonia or the good life. Exercise of the right to accept or reject,minimize or maximize, and evaluate and decide on the scope and function of science and technology indicates human flourishing in science and technology. The protection of the well- being and the upholding of dignity of the human person must be at the core of continued progress and development. Such is the focus of a human rights-based approach to science,technology, and development. S. Romi Mukherjee, a senior lecturer in Political Theory and the History of Religions at the Paris Institute of Political Studies, explained human rights-based approach to science, technology and development as follows: “[It] seeks to place a concern for human rights at the heart of how the international community engages with urgent global challenges. The UN Development Programme characterizes this approach as one that ‘leads to better and more sustainable outcomes by analyzing and addressing the inequalities, discriminatory practices and unjust power relations which are often at the heart of development problems. It puts the international human rights entitlements and claims of the people (t he ‘right - holders’) and the corresponding obligations of the state (the ‘duty - bearer’) in the center of the national development debate, and it clarifies the purpose of capacity development Mukherjee (2012) furthered that this approach identifies science a s ‘a socially organized, human activity which is value- laden and shaped by organizational structures and procedures.’ Moreover, it requires answer on whether governments and other stakeholders could craft and implement science and technology policies that ‘ensure safety, health and livelihoods; include people's needs and priorities in development and environmental strategies; and ensure they participate indecisionmaking that affects their lives and resources.’...