Sollie / Düwell Evaluating New Technologies

Methodological Problems for the Ethical Assessment of Technology Developments.
1. Auflage 2009
ISBN: 978-90-481-2229-5
Verlag: Springer Netherlands
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, Band 3, 205 Seiten

Reihe: The International Library of Ethics, Law and Technology

human practices? How are we to morally evaluate technology developments that have open horizons, encompass uncertainties, and lack control? Technology is in- uential on society; technological innovations act upon the perception of ourselves, the world, and our relation with fellow humans and other objects. Technology is changing everything we do by creating new entities (such as software, nanop- ticles, or Internet), by changing the scale of activities (e. g. vast amounts of data about people can be stored and analysed, and not infrequently without people - ing aware of this), by generating new kinds of knowledge (for instance about i- nesses, the human genome and so on). Technologies, as a consequence, impinge upon our morality and for this reason an ethics of technology should not wait passively until moral problems arise and not only focus on identi ed and exi- ing moral problems, but contemplate technology developments and possible - pacts proactively. However, this is easier said than done, because a prospective and proactive evaluation of technology developments is complicated by complexity and uncertainty. The uncertainty of technology development is closely related to one of the str- ing features of technology, namely what Jim Moor has coined logical malleability. (1985, 269) Technological devices are logically malleable in that they can be shaped to do any activity that can be characterised in terms of logical operations.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Sollie, Paul

Düwell, Marcus

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Contents;6
2;Contributors;8
3;Chapter 1 Evaluating New Technologies: An Introduction;10
3.1;1.1 Introduction;10
3.2;1.2 Project ‘Towards Ultrafast Communication’ (TUC)1;13
3.3;1.3 Thematic Structure;15
3.4;References;16
4;Part I A Case Study: Ultrafast Communication;18
4.1;Chapter 2 Ethical Aspects of Research in Ultrafast Communication;19
4.1.1;2.1 Introduction;19
4.1.2;2.2 Technical Aspects of Ultrafast Communication;21
4.1.3;2.3 Measures to Be Taken;24
4.1.4;2.4 Conclusions;26
4.2;Chapter 3 Whose Responsibility Is It Anyway? Dealing with the Consequences of New Technologies;28
4.2.1;3.1 Introduction;28
4.2.2;3.2 Ultrafast Communication;29
4.2.3;3.3 Consequences;31
4.2.4;3.4 Responsibilities Involved;37
4.2.5;3.5 Conclusion;39
4.2.6;References;40
4.3;Chapter 4 Ethics in and During Technological Research; An Addition to IT Ethics and Science Ethics;42
4.3.1;4.1 Introduction;42
4.3.2;4.2 IT Ethics and Technological Research;43
4.3.3;4.3 Technological Researchers and the Ethical Issues They Should Address;46
4.3.4;4.4 Information About the Questions of the Checklist;51
4.3.5;4.5 Examples;53
4.3.6;4.6 Further Thoughts;55
4.3.7;References;55
4.4;Chapter 5 The Need for a Value-Sensitive Design of Communication Infrastructures;57
4.4.1;5.1 Developments in Information Technology: “The Value Turn”;58
4.4.2;5.2 Development in Ethics: “The Design Turn”;59
4.4.3;5.3 Value-Sensitive Design;60
4.4.4;5.4 Towards Ultrafast Communication;63
4.4.5;5.5 Conclusion;65
4.4.6;References;66
5;Part II Evaluating New Technologies: Methodological Issues;67
5.1;Chapter 6 The Moral Relevance of Technological Artifacts;68
5.1.1;6.1 Introduction;68
5.1.2;6.2 Capturing the Moral Dimension of Technology;71
5.1.3;6.3 Responsibility of Humans and Nonhumans;73
5.1.4;6.4 Designing Mediations;76
5.1.5;6.5 Conclusion;80
5.1.6;References;81
5.2;Chapter 7 Interdisciplinarity, Applied Ethics and Social Science;83
5.2.1;7.1 Fact-Value; Descriptive-Prescriptive;84
5.2.2;7.2 ‘Discipline’ and ‘Interdisciplinarity’;85
5.2.3;7.3 The Nature of Ethics;87
5.2.4;7.4 The Type of Empirical Data;89
5.2.5;7.5 The Embeddedness of the Researcher;91
5.2.6;7.6 What’s Next?;93
5.2.7;References;94
5.3;Chapter 8 Facts or Fiction? A Critique on Vision Assessment as a Tool for Technology Assessment;97
5.3.1;8.1 Methodological Inquiry on Vision Assessment;97
5.3.2;8.2 The Pasts and Futures of the Future: Utopy and Vision;102
5.3.3;8.3 Example: The Social Boundaries of Techno-Doping;106
5.3.4;8.4 The Genre of Pop Science and the Genesis of “Public” Visions;109
5.3.5;8.5 Example: Social Neurosciences and “the Future” of Society;111
5.3.6;8.6 Outlook: The Future of Vision Assessment;116
5.3.7;References;118
5.4;Chapter 9 Exploring Techno-Moral Change: The Case of the ObesityPill;122
5.4.1;9.1 Exploring Techno-Ethical Controversies;125
5.4.2;9.2 The Obesitypill, Part I: Ethical Controversy;129
5.4.3;9.3 The Closure of Techno-Ethical Controversies;134
5.4.4;9.4 The Obesity Pill, Part II: The Liberation of Fun;136
5.4.5;9.5 How Techno-Moral Scenarios Can Enhance Our Moral Judgement;138
5.4.6;References;140
6;Part III Evaluating New Technologies: Uncertainty and Precaution;142
6.1;Chapter 10 On Uncertainty in Ethics and Technology;143
6.1.1;10.1 Introduction;143
6.1.2;10.2 The Aims and Adequacy of Ethics;145
6.1.3;10.3 Complex Technology Development;147
6.1.4;10.4 A Typology of Uncertainty;150
6.1.5;10.5 The Uncertainty of Ethics;154
6.1.6;10.6 The Ethics of Uncertainty – An Outline for Any Future Ethics of Technology;156
6.1.7;References;159
6.2;Chapter 11 New Technologies, Common Sense and the Paradoxical Precautionary Principle;161
6.2.1;11.1 Introduction;161
6.2.2;11.2 The PP Paradox;165
6.2.3;11.3 Common Sense and Precaution;167
6.2.4;11.4 Weckert and Moor;168
6.2.5;11.5 Gardiner and the Rawlsian Core Precautionary Principle;171
6.2.6;11.6 Conclusion;173
6.2.7;References;174
6.3;Chapter 12 Complex Technology, Complex Calculations: Uses and Abuses of Precautionary Reasoning in Law;176
6.3.1;12.1 Introduction;176
6.3.2;12.2 The Precautionary Principle and the Standard Critique;179
6.3.3;12.3 Pascal’s Wager: A Model for Precautionary Reasoning?;182
6.3.4;12.4 Innocent Until Proven Guilty and Precaution;184
6.3.5;12.5 The Precautionary Model and Slippery Slopes;186
6.3.6;12.6 Precaution and Trade;188
6.3.7;12.7 Conclusion;191
6.4;Chapter 13 Ethics of Technology at the Frontier of Uncertainty: A Gewirthian Perspective;192
6.4.1;13.1 Introduction;192
6.4.2;13.2 Requirements for an Ethics of Technology;193
6.4.3;13.3 Requirement 1: Gewirth’s Project for a Supreme Moral Principle—Justifying the PGC;194
6.4.4;13.4 Requirement 2: Practical Moral Reasoning—Applying the PGC;197
6.4.5;13.5 Intermezzo: Shift from Direct to Indirect, from Ideal-Typical to Real Life Cases;198
6.4.6;13.6 Requirement 3: Incorporating Procedure in Substance—the Procedural Turn;201
6.4.7;13.7 Considerations for Technology Development;204
6.4.8;13.8 Conclusion;205
6.4.9;References;205