Abstract
The very existence of explicit techno-scientific controversies in the “nano” arena is often denied on behalf of a conception of science, risks, public engagement and responsibility which borders on a disembodied idealism and merits at least serious discussion. The recurrence of this view prompted us to clarify our position regarding our common field of research, in order to avoid being trapped in the seemingly clear divide between the universal and neutral pursuit of pure science, on the one hand, and on the other hand the infinite variety of values and opinions that lead to the horrors throes of pure relativism. We therefore launched an internal trans-disciplinary project, in order to overhaul the premises underpinning both this idealistic standpoint and our own work, and to find a better definition of our approach to the exploration of the real policy implications of NST research initiatives. Indeed, the debates surrounding NST clearly have wider implications for the examination of issues of Science, Technology and Society as a whole. A first step in this clarification process was taken in Paris, at the conference which has now been published in this issue of Foundations of Chemistry. We further develop it in this paper, in the hope that it will contribute to the joint construction of a better nano-future.
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Notes
The C’Nano IdF has funded a series of one-year research programs along its Nanocience & Society axis. In 2006: ERMAN (Impact of nanotechnology on markets emergence and reconfiguration: The role of public framing); NanoTubTox (Carbon nanotubes effects on the respiratory system: The roles of intracellular localization of nanotubes, aggregate formation and surface reactivity); Pilote (Epistemological and social dynamics of nanobiotechnologies in technological convergence:). In 2007: NanoTubTox2; Nanolex (Survey and observatory work in juridical issues of nanosciences and nanotechnologies); ANS (On the mode of existence of nanosciences and nanotechnologies in the public space); Nanobiomachines (Philosophical study of nanobiotechnologies and molecular biomachines). In 2008: C’nanoTubBio (Biological response to carbon nanotubes); CSN (Circulation and/or synergy? Epistemological and social dynamics in nanosciences); ECCIM (Collective engagements in nanotech firms and market infrastructures). In 2009: Nanoaerosols (Metrology of nanoparticles in air); Nanomique (Toxicogenomics for assessing the risks of nanoparticles on human health; their taxonomy with regard to their effects on human cells); EnSeine (Interactions between nanoparticles and cells in the waters of ‘la Seine’: A study of the relationships between physico-chemical parameters and cellular responses). In 2010: SHO (Oral history project on the web for mapping the memory of recent materials and nano research); NanoWeb (Transdisciplinary study of representation and diffusion of nano-images on the web); NanoDig (Study of TiO2 nanoparticles transfer through gastro-intestinal epithelium); SurfNanotox (Structural modification of proteins exposed to nanomaterials); ACESS nano (Analysis of epistemological and social controversies of nanosciences and nanotechnologies). In 2011: NanoTox (Study of nanoparticles toxicity in biological milieus). In 2012: NanoRespiPhagie (Respiratory macrophage response to nanomaterials).
Note that we do not say that science is “a social activity like any other” because all social activities undergo different norms, ethos, and practices. Accordingly, science is a social activity different from any other, but not more different than any other. Yes, science is different from trade, but it is not more different from trade than trade is different from art. It is ‘differently different’, as all social activities are.
In a 1990 afterword to Engines of Creation, Eric Drexler wrote: “Some have mistakenly imagined that my aim is to promote nanotechnology; it is, instead, to promote understanding of nanotechnology and its consequences, which is another matter entirely. Nonetheless, I am now persuaded that the sooner we start serious development efforts, the longer we will have for serious public debate. Why? Because serious debate will start with those serious efforts, and the sooner we start, the poorer our technology base will be. An early start will thus mean slower progress and hence more time to consider the consequences”.
E.g. the call by the NNI architect, Mihail Roco, in 2003: “An appeal is made to (…) initiate societal implications studies from the beginning of the nanotechnology programs, and to communicate effectively the goals and potential risks with users and public. By this message, we try to encourage various research and funding communities to raise the recognition of research on societal implications to the level of scientific and engineering topics as agents of change, and involve social scientists and economists in R&D groups”.
“Be rational about responsibilities for nanotechnologies”, Current trends in Communicating Nanoethics, Interview with Dr. Nayla Farouki, adviser to CEA, France, published on Feb 27, 2012 by Ineke Malsch, available from http://www.observatorynano.eu/project/document/3713/.
It refers, in fact, to the model of knowledge construction that was advanced at the turn of the 20th century, and especially during the Chicago World Fair in 1933, the origin of the motto “Science finds, industry applies, public adapts”.
E.g. in the cosmetic and novel food regulations.
Traduction libre de: “M. X (chercheur au CNRS): (…) refuser la connaissance, c’est ouvrir les portes à l’ignorance, à toutes les dérives et les manipulations possibles derrière. Quand vous dites qu’on va en balancer partout (NDR: des nanoparticules), d’où tirez-vous cette information? Qui vous a dit cela? Mme Y (Membre de l’association Les Amis de la Terre): des pneus avec des tubes de carbone, leur usure fait que…Vous avez déjà des nanoparticules sur les murs ou sur les ciments. Je ne fais que lire ce qui est écrit…M. X: la matière sous forme nanoparticulaires est utilisée depuis plusieurs siècles autour de vous.Mme Y: le problème c’est qu’on va le faire à une échelle telle… M. X: on vous explique que l’on va mieux comprendre de quoi est faite cette matière et quels seront ses effets. Vous refusez cette compréhension-là. C’est étrange comme position”.
Like ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’, the term ‘stakeholder’ comes from management. Forged after the term ‘shareholder’ (the owner—individual or institutional—of a share in a private company), it refers to “those groups without whose support the organization would cease to exist” (Freeman et al. 1983, p. 88). Originally, the ‘stakeholder management’ model referred to an extension of a private company’s sphere of accountability from its sole shareholders to its employees, neighbors, users, and potentially to anyone affected by the company’s activities, i.e. who has something ‘at stake’. Of course, the ‘stakeholder model’ as employed in science-society debates is subject to criticism, but not because of its excessive inclusivity in involving ‘illegitimate’ stakeholders’—i.e. people or groups who are not directly exposed to claimed risks—as some contend (see Nayla Farouki’s interview quoted above). On the contrary! To us, the problem with the current abuse of the term ‘stakeholder’ in public engagement is rather that it tends to divert attention from the shareholders themselves, from their investments, their interests and the ‘return rate’ they expect—a dimension that the ‘stakeholders’ themselves, whether ‘legitimate’ or ‘illegitimate’, are more than familiar with.
“La première conquête des démocraties, c'est la constitution d'un espace public de discussion (…). Dans cet espace public s'affrontent des courants d'opinion (…).Une démocratie n'est pas un régime politique sans conflits, mais un régime dans lequel les conflits sont ouverts et en outre négociables (…).Sous ce régime, le conflit n'est pas un accident, ni une maladie, ni un malheur; il est l'expression du caractère non décidable de façon scientifique ou dogmatique du bien public. La discussion politique est sans conclusion, bien qu'elle ne soit pas sans décision".
To be sure, determining which ethical theory fits best with NST is complex. With regard to consequentialism, the ethics of nanotechnology calls for an enlarged version of the theory, extended to the consideration of unintended effects and not restricted to the calculus of risk versus benefits. Since the consequences of the cultural amplifications of our actions in collective networks are also to be taken in account, such an enlarged version of consequentialism should perhaps be complemented by an ethics of virtue, providing that it is detached from the exclusive focus on the ‘moral quality’ of individual agents. As a relational way of practicing ethics focused on particular—but not purely individual—situations, the ethics of care is also interesting. However, the limit of all these classical meta-ethics frameworks is that they focus mainly on research subjects, while ignoring the role of objects. Yet nano-objects are not value-free. They embody meanings and valuations that need to be made explicit, and then articulated and subjected to collective moral evaluation (Bensaude-Vincent 2013). The value-laden dimension of objects is the main focus of “value-sensitive design” (Friedman et al. 2006) and “design ethics” (Verbeek 2006). But these attempts often fall short in addressing explicitly normative questions such as the choice between multiples competing values and their hierarchization (Manders-Huits 2011). Moreover, they focus mainly on applications and use in everyday life, while the nano-objects raise other questions such as the instrumental valuation of nature or the focus on performance, which are not reducible to their applications. Finally, the ethics of nanotechnology should closely articulate the descriptive analysis of the valuations underlying research projects and objects design with the help of an epistemological analysis of these practices and of the mode of existence of nano-objects, and their normative evaluation, with the help of ethical theories and public debate (Dewey 1939).
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Lacour, S., Loeve, S., Laurent, B. et al. Deliberating responsibility: a collective contribution by the C’Nano IdF Nanoscience & Society Office. Found Chem 17, 225–245 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10698-015-9234-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10698-015-9234-z