The Question of Ethical Responsibility in the Fictional Narrative “The Fatal Eggs” by Mikhail Bulgakov

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Authors

DOHNAL Josef GROMINOVÁ Andrea

Year of publication 2024
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source MUNDO ESLAVO-JOURNAL OF SLAVIC STUDIES
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Arts

Citation
web https://revistaseug.ugr.es/index.php/meslav/article/view/30630/28484
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.30827/meslav.23.30630
Keywords M. Bulgakov; “The Fatal Eggs”; fictional narrative; biological experiment; scientific discovery; risks of invention; ethical responsibility; dystopia
Attached files
Description The question of responsibility regarding the application of scientific research findings extends not only to the scientist who makes a discovery and realizes its potential for practical application but also to those involved in implementing the discovery in practice. Bulgakov’s prose “The Fatal Eggs” underscores these two lines of responsibility associated with ethical considerations. The researcher carefully evaluates potential risks, intends to adhere to precautionary principles, and first seeks to understand the exact mechanisms behind the remarkable results of their accidental discovery. However, the discovery is alienated from them when it falls into the hands of an implementer. This implementer, driven by haste, ideological simplicity, and impatience, fails to consider the principles of experimental work. The discovery, applied inadequately, hastily, and unprofessionally, is thus disqualified and irretrievably lost. Bulgakov’s fictional narrative, with its dystopian atmosphere, serves as a poignant warn
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