The brainers
Jacques Arnould – Expert in ethics
With a degree in agricultural engineering, a doctorate in the history of science and another in theology, Jacques Arnould has taken a number of different paths in research and thought that are currently challenging our societies. On the strength of his interest in the theories of evolution and those who are developing them today, he is trying to encourage believers who see Charles Darwin as public enemy number one to be more reasonable and theologically intelligent: yes, he asserts, science can be a gift to religions! Almost by chance, he embarked on the space odyssey, inspiring and fuelling ethical questioning about space missions: what on earth are we going to do in the stars? These intellectual and professional commitments are based on his insatiable curiosity about human beings: he is convinced that it is the question of others that makes us sapiens, even when we dream of meeting extraterrestrials!
This brainer takes part in round-table discussions, offers improvisation sessions and the following solo talks:
God or Darwin?
A century and a half after the publication of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species, the controversy over the origin of our human species and the place to be accorded to science in our understanding of ourselves continues to inhabit certain religious circles. The study of creationist movements, in their opposition to evolutionist theories, provides an opportunity to take stock of the relationship between belief and knowledge, reason and faith.
When scientists talk about God
Albert Einstein liked to refer to God as “the Old Man”, and he's not the only 20th-century mathematician and physicist to have spoken of God with interest and sincerity. A fine lesson in intellectual honesty and spiritual lucidity, devoid of any proselytism or confusion between physical and metaphysical fields. A call to avoid dogmatism in both religion and science.
But what are we going to do in the stars?
Almost sixty years after the launch of Sputnik and the opening of the conquest of space, space is writing a new chapter in its history: exploration of the planets of the solar system is accelerating, while private entrepreneurs are “boosting” the sector. Is it not time to ask ourselves why, how and with what consequences we are conducting these ventures? In short, to take an ethical approach?