Rethinking Responsibility in the Face of 21st-Century Challenges

The Department of Human Sciences at the University of Verona hosted an International Workshop, funded by the European Union, to address crucial contemporary issues such as responsibility, environmental protection, human rights, and the future of new generations.

The event, held on February 18, was part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie research project ReNa – Collective Responsibility towards Nature and Future Generations, funded by the European Union and conducted by Giulia Battistoni from the Department of Human Sciences at the University of Verona, under the supervision of Giorgio Erle from the same department. The Workshop, organized by Battistoni and Erle, was supported by the Municipality of Verona, the Center Ricerche di Gnoseologia e Metafisica (University of Verona), the Italian Institute for Philosophical Studies, the Italian Society for Moral Philosophy, the Italian Society for Critical Theory, and SAFI – Societas Aperta Feminarum in Iuris Theoria.

The opening remarks were delivered by Valentina Moro, Director of the Department of Human Sciences, who emphasized that responsibility is not an abstract principle but a concrete commitment that spans multiple domains, from protecting the planet to respecting diverse cultures. She reaffirmed the central role of universities in educating new generations in critical thinking and responsibility, enabling them to tackle contemporary challenges effectively.

In the morning session, Giulia Battistoni, research fellow at the Department and President of SAFI, and Marina Calloni, professor at the University of Milano-Bicocca and President of the Italian Society for Critical Theory, highlighted the shortcomings of legal and political systems in addressing global challenges such as the environmental crisis and migration. In particular, they emphasized the tension between the particularism of national sovereignties and the universalism of human rights, underlining the need to rethink citizenship from a cosmopolitan perspective and to strengthen an ethic of shared responsibility in pursuit of global justice based on solidarity and inclusion.

In the afternoon session, speakers included Mario De Caro, professor at Roma Tre University and Tufts University (Boston), and President of the Italian Society for Moral Philosophy; Michael Quante, professor at the University of Münster (Germany) and Vice-Rector for Internationalization, Knowledge Transfer, and Sustainability at the same university; and Giorgio Erle, professor at the University of Verona and member of the promoting committee of the Center for Research in Gnoseology and Metaphysics. United by the challenge of redefining responsibility, their presentations addressed equally pressing issues: the relationship between artificial intelligence and responsibility, exploring whether machines can develop awareness and free will; the ownership of moral rights for future generations, highlighting the need to balance the fully recognizable rights of present individuals with those of future beings, whom we can only reference conditionally; and finally, an “anthropothematic” perspective was proposed to move beyond the dichotomy between exclusivist anthropocentrism and non-anthropocentrism, emphasizing the human role in listening to and protecting nature.

The debate, enriched by contributions from Massimiliano Badino, professor at the University of Verona, engaged experts, students, and the general public, touching on topics such as environmental ethics, artificial intelligence, politics, and law.

The urgency of rethinking and redefining an “imperative of responsibility”—to borrow from Hans Jonas—emerged strongly, emphasizing the need for an approach capable of effectively addressing the complex dilemmas of our time and guiding future choices in a conscious and informed manner.

The Italian version of the report is published at this link.

Below are some photos of the event.