Our Vision

Mindset change

We want a fundamental change in the mindset at ETH, where engaging with ethics is normal and widely recognized as essential for the future.

• Ethics should be something completely normal to deal with.
  • Being educated and trained in ethics should not be perceived as a burden, but as something as normal as being educated and trained in math or coding.
  • Having critical thoughts on, having doubts about and reflecting on content taught at ETH should be seen as a strength and not a weakness.
  • Having the need to discuss social aspects of technology should be as normal as the need for a technical clarification.
• Ethics should be part of excellence.
  • Proficiency in ethics should be an important part of being good in your scientific field.
  • Proficiency in ethics should be something people can be proud of.
  • Proficiency in dealing with ethics should be part of students’ intrinsic motivation.
  • Excellence should not only be characterized by deep expert knowledge, but also by abilities and perspectives to deal with the complexity of future societies. It should become ETH’s mandate to establish this mindset in their education as well as culture.
• Ethics should be accessible and fun.
  • Ethics should not be a burden.
  • Ethics should not only be associated with classical philosophical problems, but with personal and professional everyday situations.
  • Ethics should be viewed as something that is interesting and fun to think and talk about.
  • Ethics should be related to personal growth.

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Our goals

Discussion culture

We want to establish a culture at ETH, in which discussions at the intersection of technology and society are promoted and exchange of diverse opinions are encouraged.

• About discussions: We want a culture in which we
  • discuss with mutual respect,
  • discuss not with the goal to “win the discussion”,
  • discuss with a focus on personal growth.
• About sharing opinions: We want a culture in which we feel that
  • everyone’s opinion matters,
  • everyone is allowed to voice their opinion,
  • everyone appreciates the opinion of others and the discussion itself.
• Discussion with mutual trust: We want a culture in which we trust each other’s respectful discussion abilities. In particular, we want ETH to have trust in their students in being able to discuss difficult societal dilemmas at the intersection to technology and beyond.

University-related visions

We want to promote the integration of ethics and the discussion culture throughout the educational system, as we see ETH’s educational mandate not only of scientific, but also societal nature.

• Education for students: We want ETH to provide education of ethics to its students on all levels, helping them to approach and deal with difficult societal dilemmas during and beyond their studies.
  • We want ETH to provide basic ethics education (e.g. practicing critical thinking, establishing a discussion culture) in order to foster an ethical mindset.
  • We want ETH to provide subject-specific ethics education (e.g. case studies, further specialization into applied ethics) in order to prepare students for situations beyond their studies.
• Training for lecturers: We want ETH to provide training to its lecturers in how to deal with ethics in education, counteracting the “fear” of talking about difficult societal dilemmas or moderating discussions in lectures.
• Exchange on ethics education: We want ETH to continuously reflect on their education of ethics through exchange with different entities, since it is a dynamic concept of society which changes over time.
  • Intra-ETH exchange: We want ETH to cultivate a vertical exchange across students, staff and faculty, as well as a horizontal exchange across departments. Meanwhile, we can support by bringing people together, improving their communication and

• creating spaces, but without replacing the responsibility of ETH to create necessary similar initiatives.
• Inter-university exchange: We want ETH to cultivate an exchange with other universities. Meanwhile, we want to cultivate an exchange with student associations from other universities.

Community-related visions

We want to create a welcoming and safe community which allows people to meet others with similar or different interests, to connect with others outside of their own bubble, and potentially to find new peers. It also allows them to learn how to argue, agree and disagree in a respectful way.

• Safe spaces: We want to create a space in which everyone feels welcome and heard, indifferent of their background or opinions. We have zero tolerance for hate, discrimination and alike.
• Community: We want to create a community with informal get-togethers to encourage networking, a sense of belonging and friendships. It should be
  • inclusive and welcoming to newcomers,
  • available and accessible,
  • present and easy to find.
• Events: We want to organize events of different sizes and characters to reach various audiences as well as to achieve different outcomes. These include
  • large events with a focus on “ethics = fun” (e.g. film festivals),
  • medium events with a focus on “ethics = learning and personal progress” (e.g. workshops, dilemma of the month),
  • small events with a focus on “ethics = friendships and personal progress” (e.g. discussion groups, book clubs).
• Community-based continuity: We want to secure the future of this commission by building long-term relationships between members, but also to other student associations and ETH.

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Our role

We are

• Coordinators
  • We coordinate between different student groups whose activities align with our vision, within and outside ETH.
  • We coordinate a network for active and interested students and provide platforms on which they can exchange.
  • We reach out to students and inform them about us and provide an access point for interested students.
• Hosts
  • We host safe spaces where students feel comfortable to share ideas and can discuss difficult questions and foster a culture that encourages discussions among multiple different opinions, allowing them to disagree constructively.
  • We host events that aim at sparking discussions and self-reflections.
  • We support the development of opinions by offering spaces for discussions.
  • We support other active student groups whose goals align with our vision in hosting events and being active.
• Representatives
  • We support VSETH in university politics communications about ethics with ETH.
  • VSETH and the Ethics Forum represent our vision towards ETH .
  • We establish an image of trust and competence and we aim at refining our philosophical foundation and discussion moderation skills.
  • We extend our knowledge and competencies to support this vision.

We are not

• Ethics teachers
  • It is not our responsibility to teach the students at ETH about ethics or create educational offers for students. This responsibility lies with ETH.
• Ethics consultants
  • While we can host discussions for specific questions or problems for VSETH, we do not provide answers, opinions or positions to ethical issues as a commission.
• Service providers 
  • While we recognize there are gaps in the ethics education at ETH, it is not our responsibility to fill them.
  • While we do fill them in parts, this should not take away pressure from ETH to improve its offerings in ethics education.