Technology cannot be separated from ethical issues.

On March 28th and 29th, 2013, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, in collaboration with Johannes Gutenberg University (Mainz, Germany), organized an international conference: “Ethics and Technology”.The workshop was attended by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh - Vice Rector of the University, along with scientists from international organizations, universities, and research institutes from Germany, Japan, and India, as well as lecturers, undergraduate students, graduate students, and doctoral candidates of the University. In his welcoming remarks, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh thanked the professors and scientists for attending the workshop and sharing their scientific ideas on a relatively new topic in Vietnam. According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh, ethics and technology require an interdisciplinary approach; they are two important aspects that are closely linked and have a significant impact on the development of all countries, especially developing countries. From the perspective of an educational institution, Associate Professor Pham Quang Minh stated that universities have an extremely important mission in training intellectuals who are both knowledgeable and ethical, in order to build a prosperous, peaceful, and progressive world. The future of society depends heavily on the training and research of universities. The University of Social Sciences and Humanities is striving to fulfill this important task. The conference received a total of 23 reports, including 13 from foreign scholars. The presentations at the conference examined and evaluated issues related to ethics and technology in the fields of culture, literature, art, film, media, international cooperation, etc. Regarding the issue of ethics and technology in the field of film, Dr. Marcus Stiglegger (Federal Republic of Germany) addressed the ethical issues of fictional characters in Japanese cinema through the works of director Shinya Tsukamoto. Director Tsukamoto explored the dark sides of the human condition in post-industrial society, the strangeness and alienation of people in a completely industrialized world, thus facing new ethical challenges. In exploring and discussing ethical issues in the application of knowledge, Professor Kumkum Bhattacharya (India) emphasized that technology is not simply an expansion of knowledge, but also demands consideration of ethical aspects. Therefore, people must be more aware of and concerned about this issue. Professor Konrad Meisig (Germany) discussed ethical issues related to technology at three levels: the baseline, the mainstream, and the superstructure. According to the professor, at the baseline, technology is managed, guided, and directed by the state. At the mainstream, growth and consumption are easily influenced by a belief in technology. The upper echelons are determined by the reflection on technology and ethics, ethical and philosophical concerns aimed at decentralization and growth control. Discussing the relationship between science and technology and social ethics, Dr. Luong Van Ke (University of Social Sciences and Humanities) analyzed Ho Chi Minh's ideas across six aspects: the social function of scientific and technological innovation; the economic function of scientific and technological innovation; the function of science and technology in building peace and friendship among nations; and the ethics of scientists and technologists. Generally speaking, Ho Chi Minh's thought on the relationship between science and technology and ethics represents a development of the Marxist perspective on science and technology in the specific context of Vietnam. Other presentations at the conference also showed that ethics and technology are interdisciplinary fields, requiring the cooperation of many scientists and a new approach. Given the rapid and explosive development of technology, it is impossible to ignore ethical issues and traditional values, especially in developing Eastern countries. The results of this conference will be published in Germany this year.