Earlier this year I was fortunate enough to be a part of the launch week event for the Ethics and Public Policy Laboratory (EthicsLab, for short), based at the Catholic University of Central Africa in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The launch took place March 19th – 22nd, and brought together dozens of philosophers and scholars in related fields from across Africa, Europe, and North America. EthicsLab is the first ethics center in sub-Saharan Africa, and is directed by philosopher Thierry Ngosso.
The aims of EthicsLab include supporting research on normative questions, particularly those relevant to public policy in African countries, fostering engagement between scholars in Africa and those in other parts of the world, and serving as a hub for normative scholarship in Central Africa. One of the key aims is to contribute to discussions in Central Africa and beyond of key policy questions about, for example, the provision of health care, economic development, environmental protection, and education.
The launch week featured keynote talks by Danielle Allen, Rose Leke, Alain Renaut, Matthias Risse, Godfrey Tangwa, Philippe van Parijs, and Ajume Wingo, along with panels on ethics and the economy, ethics and the environment, ethics and health, and ethics and education. Most of the panels included at least one African scholar and at least one scholar from elsewhere.
The keynote talks addressed a wide of issues relevant to the Lab’s mission. Danielle Allen offered an account of the value and importance of university ethics centers, drawing on her experience as director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University. Rose Leke discussed the obligations of those involved in carrying out clinical trials in sub-Saharan Africa, noting some of the special difficulties that arise in this context. Matthias Risse offered some thoughts on what would be involved in developing a genuinely global discourse on justice, with a particular focus on the inclusion of African perspectives. And Ajume Wingo discussed how we should approach the aim of democratizing African societies in light of some of the key traditions of many such societies.
The week also included the Berggruen workshop, at which papers were presented by the three 2018-19 Berggruen Fellows from the Safra Center, with comments on each paper from three young African scholars. As one of the Berggruen fellows, I had the opportunity to present at the workshop. This was an extremely rewarding experience. The commentators raised important challenges, which stimulated a lively question and answer session that helped me to think through the issues and clarify some of my views.
It is, of course, always valuable to have the opportunity to hear from people from a range of backgrounds who hold competing views on difficult philosophical questions. But, to my mind, one of the most striking things about my experience at the event, both as a speaker and as an audience member in many other sessions, was that everyone approached the discussion as an opportunity to think through the questions at issue together, in a collaborative way, in order to learn from others and clarify their own thinking. Thierry and the rest of the organizing team created an extremely productive environment for the kind of philosophical engagement that they hoped to generate, and this led not only to valuable philosophical exchanges, but also to the development of a real sense of community among participants.
Other attendees had similar reactions. Nien-hê Hsieh says that he “was perhaps most deeply touched by how quickly philosophical exchange could bring us together…Some of my best memories included talking with students about their theses…on topics such as how to allocate water rights.” Corinne Besson adds: “The event was immensely rewarding intellectually, and I felt a deep sense of purpose and collective engagement. It is important for all of us that the EthicsLab succeeds in its mission.”
EthicsLab aims to host international conferences that include scholars from across Africa and the rest of the world on a regular basis. These events will provide valuable opportunities for philosophers based outside of Africa to engage with many of the talented African scholars who will no doubt be drawn to attend these valuable events. I very much hope that those who can will take advantage of the opportunity and attend a conference in Yaoundé.
The CFP for the Lab’s 1st Anniversary Conference, which will be held in March, 2020, can be found here.
Brian Berkey
Brian Berkey is Assistant Professor in the Department of Legal Studies and Business Ethics in the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Philosophy at Penn. He received his Ph.D in Philosophy from the University of California-Berkeley in 2012, and did his undergraduate work in Philosophy and Politics at New York University. Before moving to Penn, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Ethics in Society at Stanford University. His academic work is in moral and political philosophy, and he has published papers on the demandingness of morality, individual obligations of justice, climate change mitigation obligations, effective altruism, and entitlements of justice for non-human animals.
