NanoEthics 5 (2):129-141 (2011)
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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
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Keywords | Emerging technologies Ethics Expectations Plausibility Technology assessment Techno-moral change |
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DOI | 10.1007/s11569-011-0119-x |
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References found in this work BETA
The New Rhetoric: A Treatise on Argumentation.Chaïm Perelman & Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca - 1969 - Notre Dame, IN, USA: Notre Dame University Press.
The New Rhetoric: A Treatise on Argumentation.Chaïm Perelman - 1969 - Notre Dame, [Ind.]University of Notre Dame Press.
What Things Do: Philosophical Reflections on Technology, Agency, and Design.Peter-Paul Verbeek - 2005 - Pennsylvania State University Press.
The New Rhetoric: A Treatise on Argumentation.Ch Perelman, L. Olbrechts-Tyteca, John Wilkinson & Purcell Weaver - 1969 - Philosophy and Rhetoric 3 (4):249-254.
If and Then: A Critique of Speculative Nanoethics. [REVIEW]Alfred Nordmann - 2007 - NanoEthics 1 (1):31-46.
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Citations of this work BETA
The Moral Psychology of Value Sensitive Design: The Methodological Issues of Moral Intuitions for Responsible Innovation.Steven Umbrello - 2018 - Journal of Responsible Innovation 5 (2):186-200.
Ethical Foresight Analysis: What It is and Why It is Needed?Luciano Floridi & Andrew Strait - 2020 - Minds and Machines 30 (1):77-97.
Methods for Practising Ethics in Research and Innovation: A Literature Review, Critical Analysis and Recommendations.Wessel Reijers, David Wright, Philip Brey, Karsten Weber, Rowena Rodrigues, Declan O’Sullivan & Bert Gordijn - 2018 - Science and Engineering Ethics 24 (5):1437-1481.
Visions and Ethics in Current Discourse on Human Enhancement.Arianna Ferrari, Christopher Coenen & Armin Grunwald - 2012 - NanoEthics 6 (3):215-229.
Identifying the Normative Challenges Posed by Technology’s ‘Soft’ Impacts.Tsjalling Swierstra - 2015 - Etikk I Praksis - Nordic Journal of Applied Ethics 1 (1):5-20.
View all 20 citations / Add more citations
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