Life under Influence. Artificial Life, Social Robotics & Synthetic Biology : a Cultural Approach

Résumé :
From the conception of quasi autonomous artifacts and the design of systems  mimicking not only life as it is but also life as it could be, up to the creation of new forms of living components – science and technology have been involved in a spectacular « race » with natural living systems and against them.  As research is developing and many of the brightest contemporary scientists and engineers are involved in, the critical appraisal of what is actually at work and at stake for our societies and cultures is needed. How could we make sense of what is happening? Do we have a phenomenon without equivalent in other cultures or other fields of human practices such as art or literature? Do we need another concept of life and of living being? Could humans live with such artifacts without any substantial transformations of what it means to be human?

Participants :
Thierry Bardini (Université de Montréal)
Philippe Codognet (CNRS/University of Tokyo)
Paul Dumouchel (Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto)
Dominique Lestel (CNRS/University of Tokyo)
Perig Pitrou (CNRS/Collège de France)

Organization :
Bureau français de la MFJ
Soutien : ambassade de France au Japon, CNRS, La pépinière CNRS sur la biologie synthétique, JFLI (CNRS/univ. de Tokyo), Fondation Fyssen

Contact :
To get an invitation to the workshop: D. Lestel, Ph.D., JFLI/Department of Computer Science, University of Tokyo, Dominique.lestel0830@orange.fr