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1Applied Philosophy Group, Department of Social Sciences, Wageningen University, Hollandseweg 1, 6706 KN, Wageningen, The Netherlands, cristian.timmermann@wur.nl.
Science and Engineering Ethics
|April 13, 2013
Summary
Current intellectual property laws face criticism regarding access to scientific progress versus participation in science. This analysis explores balancing these rights for human capabilities and proposes cooperative justice for equitable innovation.
Area of Science:
- Intellectual Property Law
- Human Rights Law
- Philosophy of Science
Background:
- Intellectual property regimes are under scrutiny.
- Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights presents a tension between benefiting from scientific progress and the right to participate in scientific endeavors.
- Existing legal frameworks may not adequately address the recognition of collaboration partners in scientific research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the relationship between benefiting from scientific progress and participating in scientific advancement in relation to human capabilities.
- To reframe the debate as an issue of misrecognition within scientific collaboration.
- To argue for a duty to counterbalance disproportionate benefits within innovation incentive systems based on cooperative justice.
Main Methods:
- Conceptual analysis of intellectual property law and human rights.
- Exploration of the philosophical underpinnings of scientific progress and participation.
- Ethical reasoning on distributive justice and cooperative frameworks.
Main Results:
- Balancing the right to benefit from scientific progress with the right to participate in science is crucial for securing human capabilities.
- Misrecognition of potential collaborators as non-peers hinders equitable scientific advancement.
- Cooperative justice necessitates counterbalancing advantages in innovation systems that rely on mutual cooperation.
Conclusions:
- Re-evaluating intellectual property frameworks is essential to ensure both access to and participation in scientific progress.
- Addressing misrecognition in science is key to fostering a more inclusive and equitable research environment.
- Innovation incentive systems must be designed with principles of cooperative justice to prevent undue concentration of benefits.
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