The European Association of Professors Emeriti (EAPE), based in Athens, was founded in 2016 with the aim of utilising the knowledge and experience of retired professors from European universities. The objectives of EAPE's activities are the promotion of academic research, the defence of academic freedom and humanistic principles, as well as mentoring. Mentors help young scientists to go beyond the limits, or what they consider to be the limits of their abilities, and to see themselves in a way that they may not be able to do on their own, offering them their valuable experience.
EAPE includes over 200 active members from 15 European countries, and is structured in nine scientific fields including Medicine, Economics, Philosophy, Arts, Environment, etc., which organize regular online and in-person seminars. The Association publishes the scientific bulletin "Bulletin of the European Association of Professors Emeriti", which is freely available to the public.
EAPE organizes international conferences, which bring together prominent figures from the academic and scientific world. In this context, the 4th Conference on “Beyond Knowledge: Wisdom, Values and Ethics for Europe” was organized on June 11-13 at the University of Athens. It was organized by the Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Athens, active President of EAPE, Georgios Christodoulou, and the organizing committee of professors headed by the inspirer of EAPE, Professor of Cardiology at the University of Athens, Dionysios Kokkinos.
The speeches of all the participants went beyond knowledge, aiming for a meritocratic European ethos in an era, indeed, where morals, principles and values are defiantly despised with painful consequences for the formation of the human personality. The initiators of the European Union envisioned a union of states in order to eliminate the causes of wars, and today Europe is in crisis, because, as the French philosopher Edgar Morin observes, it has not progressed either as a political and cultural consciousness, or as a democratic consciousness.
The participants in their speeches referred to the Artificial Intelligence, and pointed out that the acquisition of knowledge through AI should be guided, in order to avoid the dangers that lurk. Knowledge is the greatest good for man, as Plutarch taught, and as AI today makes a decisive inroads into education, it is necessary to follow a human-centered model.
The extremely interesting EAPE Conference in Athens concluded with the following declaration on the ethical mission of Europe's academic community: "Europe's academic tradition, shaped by the Humanism of classical antiquity, by the revival of civilization achieved through the Enlightenment, and by its democratic principles, has contributed decisively to the progress of humanity. It is time for Europe to take the lead again and resist aggression, the abolition of academic freedom, the devaluation of humanism and other potentially destructive developments. Wisdom, guided by values and ethics is the message of the peer professors of the European Union."
The Conference, with its inspiring theme, was an exceptional success with wide participation of European scientists, students and the public.
Published in VIMA
photo denzel, https://pixabay.com
