Abstract
This paper explores the role of ethics in design. Traditionally, ethical questions have been seen as marginal issues in the design of technology. Part of the reason for this stems from the widely held notion of technology being “out of control.” This notion is a barrier to what I call “ethical design” because it implies that ethics has no role to play in the development of technology. This view, however, is challenged by recent work in the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS). Looking into the dynamics of technological change, STS scholars argue that human choices are present at every stage of a technology’s development and, furthermore, that human values are reflected in the very design of artifacts. This alternative view suggests that ethics can and should be included in the design process. Drawing on examples from the privacy arena. I point to some of the potential advantages of addressing ethical concerns early on in the design of a technology. I conclude with some general strategies for bringing ethics back into design.
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See Sclove, R.E. (1995) Democracy and Technology, Guilford Press, New York. The STS department at Rensselaer has launched a number of educational initiatives to bring values explicitly into the design of technology; see, for example, the new Product, Design, and Innovation undergraduate program at http://www.rpi.edu/dept/sts/pdi/index.html
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Patrick Feng is a Ph.D. student in the Science and Technology Studies Department at Rensselaer. His research focuses on the development of technical standards that are designed to address social values such as privacy and trust.
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Feng, P. Rethinking technology, revitalizing ethics: Overcoming barriers to ethical design. SCI ENG ETHICS 6, 207–220 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-000-0049-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-000-0049-4