Assessing Expectations: Towards a Toolbox for an Ethics of Emerging Technologies
Nanoethics 5 (2):129-141 (2011)
| Abstract | In recent years, several authors have argued that the desirability of novel technologies should be assessed early, when they are still emerging. Such an ethical assessment of emerging technologies is by definition focused on an elusive object. Usually promises, expectations, and visions of the technology are taken as a starting point. As Nordmann and Rip have pointed out in a recent article, however, ethicists should not take for granted the plausibility of such expectations and visions. In this paper, we explore how the quality of expectations on emerging technologies might be assessed when engaging in a reflection on the desirability of emerging technologies. We propose that an assessment of expectations’ plausibility should focus on statements on technological feasibility, societal usability, and desirability of the expected technology. Whereas the feasibility statement and, to a lesser extent, the usability statements are frequently quite futuristic, the claims on desirability, by contrast, often display a conservative stance towards the future. Assessing the quality of expectations and visions on behalf of emerging technologies requires, then, a careful and well-directed use of both skepticism and imagination. We conclude with a brief overview of the tools and methods ethicists could use to assess claims made on behalf of emerging technologies and improve the ethical reflection on them | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,709 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesWilliam E. Stempsey (2006). Emerging Medical Technologies and Emerging Conceptions of Health. Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 27 (3):227-243.
Philip Brey (forthcoming). Anticipatory Ethics for Emerging Technologies. Nanoethics (Browse Results).
James H. Moor (2005). Why We Need Better Ethics for Emerging Technologies. Ethics and Information Technology 7 (3).
Trond Åm (2011). Trust in Nanotechnology? On Trust as Analytical Tool in Social Research on Emerging Technologies. Nanoethics 5 (1):15-28.
Trond Ã…M. (2011). Trust in Nanotechnology? On Trust as Analytical Tool in Social Research on Emerging Technologies. Nanoethics 5 (1):15-28.
Haico Te Kulve & Arie Rip (2011). Constructing Productive Engagement: Pre-Engagement Tools for Emerging Technologies. Science and Engineering Ethics 17 (4):699-714.
Haico te Kulve, Kornelia Konrad, Carla Alvial Palavicino & Bart Walhout (2013). Context Matters: Promises and Concerns Regarding Nanotechnologies for Water and Food Applications. Nanoethics 7 (1):17-27.
Philippe Verdoux (2011). Emerging Technologies and the Future of Philosophy. Metaphilosophy 42 (5):682-707.
Arianna Ferrari, Christopher Coenen & Armin Grunwald (2012). Visions and Ethics in Current Discourse on Human Enhancement. Nanoethics 6 (3):215-229.
Bernd Carsten Stahl, Richard Heersmink, Philippe Goujon, Catherine Flick, Jeroen van den Hoven, Kutoma Wakunuma, Veikko Ikonen & Michael Rader (2010). Identifying the Ethics of Emerging Information and Communication Technologies: An Essay on Issues, Concepts and Method. International Journal of Technoethics 1 (4):20-38.
Bernd Stahl, Richard Heersmink, Philippe Goujon, Catherine Flick, Jeroen van den Hoven, Kutoma Wakunuma, Veikko Ikonen & Michael Rader (2010). Issues, Concepts and Methods Relating to the Identification of the Ethics of Emerging ICTs. Communications of the IIMA 10 (1):33-43.
Joan McGregor & Jameson M. Wetmore (2009). Researching and Teaching the Ethics and Social Implications of Emerging Technologies in the Laboratory. Nanoethics 3 (1):17-30.
David H. Guston (2011). Participating Despite Questions: Toward a More Confident Participatory Technology Assessment. Science and Engineering Ethics 17 (4):691-697.
Mary J. Granger & Joyce Currie Little (2001). Creating an Organizational Awareness of Ethical Responsibility About Information Technology. Science and Engineering Ethics 7 (2).
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2011-07-12Total downloads19 ( #64,458 of 550,854 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #63,425 of 550,854 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
