Different groups organised themselves and started to think about which topics were to be discussed at the Nordic Summer University. These proposals were the input that was discussed in Lysebu, Norway, in 1950. 

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BERGEN:

 

1. Human dignity

 

I Humanity’s place in the universe

Its relation to nature

Its relation to the animals

Similarities to animals:

Physical – anatomy

Psychological – instincts, drives

Societal – family life, group formations

Development – phylogeny

2. Differences to animals:

Reason: The brain, central nervous system

Capacity for abstract thought – logics, mathematics

Creative capacity – technology, art

Religion – theological psychology, theological history

 

II Different views of human dignity

 

1. a) Ancient philosophy, b) Later Middle Ages, c) Newer philosophical thinking (materialism, psychology, existentialism, etc.)

2. a) The humanist view, b) The Christian view, c) Other religions’ views

3. Modern physics’ results and their influence on the perception of human dignity

 

III Spiritual man

 

IV Human dignity as political and social problem

 

1. In politics: Declarations of human rights and the rights of the individual in practice. Democracy and dictatorship – racial issues – war – The United Nations

2. In law making:

a) Methods of punishment (prison, death penalty, concentrations camps etc.)

b) Social law making

c) Women’s standing in society

3. In medical science:

a) Abortus provokatus

b) Euthanasia, The terminally ill

c) The mentally ill and spiritually ill

4. Personal ethics:

a) Education – school system

b) Pacifism – militarism

c) Sexual ethics

d) Can the view of human dignity be sufficient ground for a binding ethics?

5. Idea of evolution in biology applied to other sciences

6. What tasks should the academic institutions fulfil?

 

 

UPPSALA:

 

Value free science?

Motivation for punishment

Art’s logic

The formalisation of science

The validity of probability reasoning

 

 

STOCKHOLM:

 

The functions of consciousness, especially with regard to processing scientific work tasks

Mathematics

Chemistry or biology

Physics or astronomy

Geography

Sociology or political economics

History

Linguistics

Criminal justice or civil justice

Ethics

Exegetics

 

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GOTHENBURG:

 

Problems of history

Historical versus structuralist method in linguistics, literature and social sciences

The aesthetic sciences value judgement

The profane humanism. Historical development and current motivations

Higher education specialisation. A cultural problem.

 

 

LUND:

 

Upbringing and predispositions

Psychosomatic medicine

Individualistic and collective life forms

Problem of causation

Criminology and criminal politics

Art forms and society forms

Religion and science

Law’s effect in society

Value judgement

 

 

AARHUS:

 

Station towns in geographic, historical, judicial, literary, sociological and economic light

Humanism and Christianity

Concept of completion. The concepts’ meaning in physics, its epistemological meaning and areas of use.

Biology of neurons

 

 

COPENHAGEN:

 

Relation between thing and life

Problem of responsibility

Symbols in art, language, science and religion

Neurophysiology and consciousness

Econometrics

Language sounds

Heredity and evolution

Problems of university education

Problems of education viewed ethnologically

Reality and validity in law

Intonation and accent in Nordic languages

Concept of complementarity

Methodology of literary research