Željko Kaluđerović, "Genetically Modified Crops – Scientific and Philosophical Approach"
On Tuesday 20 March Associate Professor Željko Kaluđerović, University of Novi Sad, Serbia, delivered a lecture with the title "Genetically Modified Crops – Scientific and Philosophical Approach" in Theoretical Ethics II class.
Abstract: During the last twenty years biotechnology, genetic engineering, transgenic organisms or genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have been raising numerous controversies. In the scientific sphere, genetic engineering and GMOs represent a special challenge for geneticists, breeders and physicians, in philosophy it is a topic of interest for bioethicists and agricultural ethicists, environmentalists are interested in the interconnectictions between new technology and environment protection, for multinational companies this is a potential source of huge profits, and for certain governments they represent an instrument for strategic control of food production within their countries as well as internationally. By taking into account the views of both advocates and opponents of this "revolutionary" method, author believes that we should not a priori reject new and insufficiently studied technologies, but that in this particular it is necessary to be extremely cautious, in other words that from (bio)ethical point of view only those GMO investigations limited to scientific purposes are justified, provided that all required precautions have been taken. Also, author is of the opinion that in this region as well as in Europe as a whole, at this moment, transgenic organisms are not necessary, neither in agricultural production nor in the food chain. Arguments for such a statement are found primarily in the potential issues that intentional breeding of GMOs might inflict upon the human health and environment. Namely, if borders of individual species are not overstepped and if their endogenous traits are made stronger, the potential risk of causing irreparable damage for both present and future generations which may be brought by changed biological succession will be reduced, i.e. one of the four fundamental bioethical principles will be applied and that is the nonmaleficence. Further intentional decreasing of biodiversity should not be allowed, which means that it is necessary to respect as much as it is possible the complexity of the very nature, its autonomy and "otherness". The author thinks that patenting of living organisms by the multinational companies is unacceptable and unfair from the bioethical perspective, not only because they tend to hold monopolies in production and trade of GM plants, but also because of their efforts to gain domination over the very life. Finally, analyses made by many scientists show that the thesis that “gene revolution” will resolve the problem of hunger in the world was not justified in the previous two decades.
See full text here.
Bio-note: Željko Kaluđerović (1964, Vrbas, Serbia) is an Associate Professor at the Department of Philosophy at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University in Novi Sad. Since 2009 i.e. 2010 he has been teaching the following subjects: Hellenic Philosophy, Hellenistic-Roman philosophy, Ethics, Bioethics, Journalistic Ethics and Philosophy of Morality. Since 2010, Kaluđerović has been teaching a course in Ancient Greek Philosophy and a course in Medieval Philosophy and Ethics at the Department of Philosophy and Sociology, a the Faculty of Philosophy of the University in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Books: Aristotle and Presocratics (KriMel, Novi Sad 2004), Hellenic Concept of Justice (Izdavačka knjižarnica Zorana Stojanovića, S. Karlovci - Novi Sad 2010), Presocratic Understanding of Justice (Izdavačka knjižarnica Zorana Stojanovića, S. Karlovci - Novi Sad 2013), Philosophical Triptych (Biblioteka ARHE, Filozofski fakultet, Novi Sad 2014), Dike and Dikaiosyne (Magnasken, Skopje, FYROM, 2015) and Early Greek Philosophy (Hijatus, Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2017).
Željko Kaluđerović has published more than 100 papers and reviews in different science and philosophy journals in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, FYROM, Hungary, Romania, Turkey, Germany and USA. He has taken part in more than forty five international symposia and in one international congress (9th World Congress of Bioethics).
He has participated - and still is - in four scientific projects in Serbia (Problems of Modern Philosophy (1996-2000); Place of Philosophy in the Modern Society (2005); The Tradition of Teaching Philosophy in two Oldest Serbian Grammar Schools (2008-2011); Teaching of Philosophy in Serbian Grammar Schools of Vojvodina in the Interwar Period (2011-2017), and in three scientific projects in Croatia ("Origin of philosophy of ratio-vitalism in the philosophy of Ortega y Gasset" (2014), ("Theoretical bases and practical implications of European bioethics" (2015-2017), (EUROPEAN BIOETHICS IN ACTION (EuroBioAct) (2014-2017).
Željko Kaluđerović is a member of the Bioethics Society of Serbia, Croatian Bioethical Society, Centre for Integrative Bioethics (FYROM), Croatian Philosophical Society, Philosophical Society of FYROM, The International Association for Presocratic Studies, a member of the Organization Committee of the Lošinj Days of Bioethics (Croatia), a member of Editorial Board of the Annual of the Department of Social Sciences and Medical Humanities JAHR from University of Rijeka School of Medicine (Croatia), an editor in chief of the Journal of Philosophy Arhe from Novi Sad (Serbia), a member of Organizational Committee of the 6th SEE Bioethics Forum (Serbia 2010), and a member of the Award Committee “Zoran Djindjic” (2009-2014). Between 2010 and 2015 Kaluđerović was the Head of the Department of Philosophy, at the Faculty of Philosophy, University in Novi Sad.