CHAPTER

WHEN TECHNOLOGY AND

5 HUMANITY CROSS

OBJECTIVES:

At the end of the chapter, the students shall be able to:

1. Examine human rights in order to uphold such rights in technological ethical dilemmas

Human rights in the face of scientific and technological advancement are critical factors in one‟s
journey toward eudaimonia or the good life. Exercising the right to reject, minimize or maximize, and
evaluate and decide on the scope and function of science and technology indicates human flourishing in
science and technology. Protecting well-being and upholding the dignity of the human person must be at
the core of continued scientific and technological 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 a 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 the urgent global challenges. The UN Development Programme characterizes this
approach as one that leads to better and more sustainable outcomes by analysing 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 (the
„right-holders‟) and the corresponding obligations of the state (the „duty-bearer‟) in the center of national
development debate, and it clarifies the purpose of capacity development.”

Mukherjee (2012) furthered that this approach identifies science as “a socially organized human
activity which is value-laden and shaped by organizational structures and procedures.” Moreover, it
requires an answer to whether governments and other stakeholders can 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 in decision-making that affects
their lives and resources.”

Multiple international statutes, declarations and decrees have been produced to ensure well-
being and human dignity, Mukherjee listed some of the most important documents that center on human
rights-based approach to science, development and technology and their key principles:

Document Key Principles

This document affirms everyone‟s right to participate in the

benefit of scientific advances and be protected from scientific
Universal declaration of Human
misuses. The right to the benefits of science comes under the
Rights (Article 27)
domain of „culture‟, so it is usually examined from a cultural
rights perspective.

UNESCO Recommendation on This document affirms that all advances in science and
the Status of Scientific
Researchers – 1974 (Article 4)
technological knowledge should solely be geared towards the
welfare of the global citizens, and call upon member states to
develop necessary protocol and policies to monitor and secure
this objectives. Countries are asked to show that science and
technology are integrated into policies that aim to ensure a
more humane and just society.

This documents states, “Today, more than ever, science and

UNESCO Declaration on the use
of Scientific Knowledge – 1999
(Article 33)
its applications are indispensable for development. All levels
of government and the private sector should provide
enhanced support for building up an adequate and evenly
distributed scientific and technological capacity through
appropriate education and research programmes as an
indispensable foundation for economic, social, cultural and
environmentally sound development. His is particularly urgent
for developing countries.” This Declaration encompasses
issues such as pollution-free production, efficient resource
use, biodiversity protection and brain drains.

Table 2. Useful documents for human-rights based approach to science,

technology and development

A human rights-based approach to science, technology and development sets the parameters for
appraisal how science, technology and development promote human well-being. Thus, the discussion of
human rights in the face of changing scientific and technological contexts must not serve as merely
decorative moral dimension of scientific and technological policies. As Mukherjee (2012) posited, this
approach “can form a very heart of sustainable futures.”

Human rights should be integrated to the journey toward the ultimate good. They should guide
humans not only to flourish as individual members of society, but also to assist each other in flourishing
collectively as a society. Human rights are rights to sustainability, as Mukherjee put in they may function
as the „golden mean‟, particularly by protecting the weak, poor and vulnerable from the deficiencies and
excesses of science and technology. By imposing upon science and technology the moral and ethical
duty to protect and uphold human rights, there can be more effective and sustainable approach to
bridging the gap between poor and rich countries on both tangible (e.g., services and natural resources)
and intangible (e.g., well-being and human dignity) aspects. Ultimately, all these will lead humans to
flourish together though science and technology.