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Lycée · Terminale · Anglais (LVA)

Science, éthique et progrès

Axe culturel 3 — Art et pouvoir : innovation scientifique, responsabilité et limites éthiques dans le monde anglophone (programme de Tle, LVA)

À propos de cette page
Ce cours de anglais (lva) en terminale sur « Science, éthique et progrès » suit le programme officiel de anglais (lva) de terminale. Il présente les définitions, les propriétés et les méthodes essentielles, accompagnées d'exemples résolus pour bien comprendre. Au programme : Science, ethics and progress: framing the debate, Milestones of scientific progress, Artificial intelligence: promise and peril, Bioethics: genetics, medicine and the body. Chaque notion est expliquée pas à pas, puis mise en pratique grâce à des exercices interactifs, un QCM et une évaluation corrigée. Idéal pour réviser à son rythme, combler ses lacunes et progresser, en autonomie ou avec un professeur. Cours rédigé par un professeur particulier à Marseille pour aider les élèves de terminale à réussir en anglais (lva).
1

Science, ethics and progress: framing the debate

Science seeks knowledge, technology turns it into tools, and ethics asks whether we should do what we now can do. This unit belongs to the axis Art and power: science is a form of power, and every power raises the question of its limits.

Definition. Progress = the idea that humanity advances through discovery and innovation. Ethics (moral philosophy) = the study of what is right or wrong. The central tension is: just because we can, does it mean we should?

The debate has two classic positions:

  • Techno-optimism — science solves problems (disease, hunger, climate) and improves life.
  • Techno-scepticism — unchecked progress creates new dangers (surveillance, weapons, inequality, loss of control).

Caption: progress sits at the crossroads of capability, morality and power.

2

Milestones of scientific progress

Scientific revolutions have repeatedly reshaped the English-speaking world. Knowing a few landmarks gives you concrete examples for the Bac.

DateBreakthrough
1859Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species (theory of evolution).
1945The first atomic bomb (Manhattan Project) — progress as a weapon.
1953Watson & Crick describe the structure of DNA.
1969Apollo 11: the first humans walk on the Moon.
2003The Human Genome Project maps human DNA.

Caption: each breakthrough was also an ethical turning point.

Example. After Hiroshima, physicist Robert Oppenheimer quoted the words 'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' Science had given humanity the power to destroy itself.
3

Artificial intelligence: promise and peril

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the most debated technology of our time. It can drive cars, diagnose diseases and write text — but it also raises urgent ethical questions.

Key terms. An algorithm is a set of rules a machine follows; machine learning lets a system improve from data; a bias is an unfair prejudice that data can reproduce.
PromisePeril
Faster medical diagnosisLoss of jobs (automation)
Accessibility, translationSurveillance and loss of privacy
Scientific discoveryAlgorithmic bias and discrimination
Convenience, efficiencyFake news, deepfakes, manipulation
Watch out! AI is not neutral: it reflects the data and the choices of those who build it. Garbage in, garbage out.
Tip. To weigh risk, use modals of probability: AI could replace millions of jobs, but it might also create new ones.
4

Bioethics: genetics, medicine and the body

Bioethics studies the moral limits of biology and medicine. Genetic engineering forces us to ask how far we should reshape life itself.

Definition. Genetic engineering = modifying an organism's DNA. CRISPR is a tool that 'edits' genes like text. A designer baby is a child whose genes have been selected or altered.
  • Hopes: curing genetic diseases, ending hereditary illness, growing organs.
  • Fears: 'playing God', eugenics, a divide between the genetically 'enhanced' and the rest.
  • Other debates: cloning, stem cells, euthanasia, animal testing.
Example. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818) is often called the first science-fiction novel: a scientist creates life and loses control of it — a timeless warning about the ethics of creation.
Watch out! Don't confuse could (possibility) and should (advice/duty). Bioethics is precisely the gap between the two.
5

Science, power and responsibility

Science gives power — and power demands responsibility. Who should set the limits: scientists, governments, companies, or citizens?

The precautionary principle. When an innovation may cause serious harm, society should act with caution even before all the evidence is in.

Key issues of governance:

  • Regulation — laws and ethics committees that frame research.
  • Transparency & accountability — who answers for misuse?
  • Access & equity — will progress benefit everyone, or only the wealthy?
Tip. A famous line from Spider-Man sums up the unit: 'With great power comes great responsibility.' It applies perfectly to science.
Example. Climate science shows the paradox clearly: the same industrial progress that lifted billions out of poverty now threatens the planet, and only further innovation — plus political will — may repair the damage.
6

Key vocabulary of science and ethics

Precise vocabulary is decisive for the Bac. Revise these essential terms.

EnglishFrançais
a breakthroughune avancée majeure
a discovery / an inventionune découverte / une invention
research / a researcherla recherche / un chercheur
genetic engineeringle génie génétique
artificial intelligence (AI)l'intelligence artificielle (IA)
a side effect / harmun effet secondaire / un préjudice
to raise an issuesoulever une question
accountabilityla responsabilité (rendre des comptes)

Caption: flip the cards to revise the core vocabulary of the unit.

7

Grammar in context: modals, future and conditionals

Three grammar points are essential to debate science and ethics.

Modals. Use them to express degree of certainty, ability, obligation or advice. Scientists can edit genes (ability). We must set limits (obligation). Researchers should publish their data (advice). AI may/might/could change everything (possibility).
Talking about the future. will = prediction/promise (AI will transform medicine); be going to = plan/intention or evidence (This research is going to change our lives); present continuous = fixed arrangement.
Conditionals. Type 1 (real future): If we regulate AI, it will be safer. Type 2 (hypothetical): If scientists could cure ageing, society would change forever.
IdeaSentence
Obligation/dutyWe must question the ethics of progress.
PossibilityCloning could raise serious problems.
PredictionTechnology will keep accelerating.
HypothesisIf we banned research, we would lose cures.
8

Building a balanced argument on progress

For the written expression, structure your answer like a mini-essay.

Method. 1) Introduce the issue (a question). 2) Give arguments for progress. 3) Give the ethical concerns. 4) Nuance and conclude with your own, justified opinion.

Useful connectors:

  • Adding: moreover, furthermore, in addition, what is more.
  • Contrasting: however, on the other hand, nevertheless, whereas, although.
  • Cause/consequence: because of, due to, therefore, as a result, consequently.
  • Concluding: all in all, to sum up, on balance.
Watch out! Always illustrate with a concrete example (a discovery, a film, a scientist). A general claim without illustration loses marks.
To remember
  • The core question of the axis: just because we can, does it mean we should?
  • Know milestones: evolution (1859), atomic bomb (1945), DNA (1953), Moon (1969), Human Genome (2003).
  • AI brings promise (medicine, efficiency) and peril (jobs, surveillance, bias); bioethics debates CRISPR, designer babies, cloning.
  • Science is power → it demands responsibility, regulation and the precautionary principle.
  • Grammar tools: modals (can, must, should, may/might/could), the future (will / going to) and conditionals (type 1 & 2).
  • Argue with nuance and examples: however… moreover… on balance…
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