The academic council at Health invites you to a presentation by Professor Klemens Kappel from the University of Copenhagen on knowledge scepticism. The event will take place on 17 May and everyone is welcome.

2018.05.03 | Henriette Stevnhøj

Professor Klemens Kappel will talk about the manifestly very human inclination to focus on the information that confirms our political or ideological identity, rather than having faith in science, and how this scepticism is a challenge for researchers and science.

Although science acquitted the HPV vaccine, there was nevertheless a widespread popular mistrust about the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine, helped along by a tendentious television programme. The example is not unique. Many people will no doubt be worried about the prospect of nuclear power, even though it is assessed as being a stable, safe and clean source of energy. In the United States, there is a common understanding among large groups of the population that global warming is not man-made, even though climate scientists say the opposite.

Scepticism about science is a psychological mechanism which medical doctor, philosopher and professor at the University of Copenhagen, Klemens Kappel, researches. On Thursday 17 May, he will be at Aarhus University where he will – in connection with the academic council’s meeting – give an hour-long lecture on his research project: Convergent Ethics and Ethics of Controversy. The lecture is open for everyone. 

Klemens Kappel’s research project aims to help explain the resistance that promising new genetic technologies are often met with when they are presented to the public. He will talk about the manifestly very human inclination to focus on the information that confirms our political or ideological identity, rather than having faith in science, and how this scepticism is a challenge for researchers and science.

The lecture will take place on Thursday 17 May at 14:00 - 15:00 in the Mogens Zielerstuen, Fredrik Nielsens Vej 2-4, DK-8000, Aarhus C.

Questions about the event can be directed to Adviser Lene Bøgh Sørensen; lbs@au.dk