The European Cultural Delphi Centre (E.C.D.C.) a cultural institution in Greece aiming at exploring humanistic thought and promoting dialogue on the pressing questions of our time, has launched in 2023 the international symposium “Delphi Dialogues,” which aims to explore key aspects of humanity’s journey toward its emerging future, and to contribute through concrete proposals and the promotion of global critical thinking.
Renowned thinkers and scientists of global stature gather in Delphi to discuss urgent contemporary issues and challenges that humanity will soon be called upon to face. Now in its third year, and under the auspices of H.E. the President of the Republic,
Mr. Konstantinos An. Tasoulas, Delphi Dialogues 2025 will focus on the theme of Biopolitics, Bioethics, and Democracy.
As noted by Harvard University Professor and President of the European Cultural Centre of Delphi Professor Panagiotis Roilos, the unprecedented developments across many scientific fields — most notably in medicine, biomedical research, genetic engineering, computer science, and physics — as well as in technology (including artificial intelligence), are providing political (and economic) centers of power with highly advanced mechanisms and tools of “biopolitics”, i.e., the management, regulation, surveillance, and overall shaping of critical aspects of citizens’ lives. He highlights that the Third Delphic Dialogues will explore a series of complex questions arising from this new reality, including:
- How are the principles and priorities of bioethics being redefined as a result of these developments, particularly in medicine and genetic technology?
- To what extent and in what ways can a balance be achieved between the concentration of scientific and technological capital and knowledge in a few research and business entities, on the one hand, and the protection and expansion of democratic ideals and political rights, on the other?
- What threats do these highly complex and advanced biopolitical mechanisms pose to democratic institutions?
The Third Delphi Dialogues with take place between Friday 20 and Saturday 21 June 2025 at Delphi, one of the most emblematic sites of ancient Greek thought, regarded by ancient Greeks as the center of the world. One of the founding mission of the European Cultural Centre of Delphi, is to develop Delphi as a European and global hub of intellectual life.
As Professor Andreas Gofas, Director of the European Cultural Centre of Delphi, states:
“From the very beginning of its operation, the European Cultural Centre of Delphi has served as a beacon of culture and reflection, centered on the human being and Democracy. Today, as the concepts of biopolitics and bioethics return to the forefront with renewed urgency, the Centre emerges as an ideal space for dialogue on the critical questions of our time.
In the 21st century, advances in biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and the life sciences not only affect our daily lives but also raise fundamental questions about the meaning of human existence in the future and society’s responsibility toward human life. Political decisions concerning the body, health, reproduction, and the technological enhancement of the human being define a new arena—one in which ethics, science, and democratic accountability intersect with increasing intensity.
In the deeply historic setting of Delphi—a place long associated with prophecy, wisdom, and deliberation—the convening of the Third Delphic Dialogues offers a unique opportunity for meaningful reflection on how modern technologies and the politics of biopower influence democracy, freedom, and human dignity. Here, where plurality of voices and the synthesis of ideas have always been core values, the conditions are ideal for reexamining the principles we wish to see govern our contemporary civilization.”
Τhe 2025 Delphi Dialogues international symposium will feature a distinguished roster of speakers whose work spans a wide array of disciplines and critical global concerns. Together, they will explore the multifaceted ethical, political, and philosophical dimensions of biopolitics, democracy, and scientific advancement in our rapidly evolving world.
Daniel Wikler (Harvard University) will address the challenges of bioethics in an era of disinformation, probing the ways in which truth, trust, and public health intersect in the digital age.
Frédéric Keck (CNRS – Collège de France) will explore the democratic potential of cynegetic power, drawing lessons in wisdom from the practices and insights of virus hunters.
Elaine Scarry (Harvard University) will present a thought provoking examination titled “Thermonuclear Monarchy: Can a Single Speech Act Destroy All Civilization?”, investigating the concentration of destructive power and its implications for democratic sovereignty.
Michael Hardt (Duke University) will discuss democracy and the global war regime, reflecting on how conflict infrastructures reshape civic life and political agency on a planetary scale.
Demetrios Yatromanolakis (The Johns Hopkins University) will trace the trajectory of biopolitics from Plato’s political pragmatism to post-human cybernetics, illuminating the continuity and disruption in philosophical approaches to life, governance, and technology.
James Faubion (Rice University) will offer insights on antibiopolitics and bioautology, advancing a new conceptual vocabulary for understanding the regulation of life and the self in the contemporary biopolitical landscape.
Didier Fassin (Collège de France) will confront the inequality of lives as an ethical challenge to democracy, interrogating the moral imperatives and failures of institutions that value some lives over others.
Timothy Campbell (Cornell University) will conclude with a reflection on the uses of democracy, proposing a reframing of biopolitics that reclaims democratic potential amid escalating technological control.
The dialogues will officially kick off on Friday, June 20, 2025, at 17:30, in the “Frynichos” Hall of the European Cultural Centre of Delphi and the whole symposium will be streamed live online, allowing global audiences to participate in this vital conversation on biopolitics, democracy, and ethics.
Live Stream: eccd.gr/delphidialogues2025
The symposium proceedings will be published in a dedicated special edition, available after the event.
I.L.
