The Moral Status Of Technical Artefacts

Author : Peter Kroes,Peter-Paul Verbeek
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 250 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2014-01-08
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9789400779143

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The Moral Status of Technical Artefacts by Peter Kroes,Peter-Paul Verbeek Pdf

This book considers the question: to what extent does it make sense to qualify technical artefacts as moral entities? The authors’ contributions trace recent proposals and topics including instrumental and non-instrumental values of artefacts, agency and artefactual agency, values in and around technologies, and the moral significance of technology. The editors’ introduction explains that as ‘agents’ rather than simply passive instruments, technical artefacts may actively influence their users, changing the way they perceive the world, the way they act in the world and the way they interact with each other. This volume features the work of various experts from around the world, representing a variety of positions on the topic. Contributions explore the contested discourse on agency in humans and artefacts, defend the Value Neutrality Thesis by arguing that technological artefacts do not contain, have or exhibit values, or argue that moral agency involves both human and non-human elements. The book also investigates technological fields that are subject to negative moral valuations due to the harmful effects of some of their products. It includes an analysis of some difficulties arising in Artificial Intelligence and an exploration of values in Chemistry and in Engineering. The Moral Status of Technical Artefacts is an advanced exploration of the various dimensions of the relations between technology and morality

Author : Pieter E. Vermaas
Publisher : Morgan & Claypool Publishers
Page : 135 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2011
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781608455980

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A Philosophy of Technology by Pieter E. Vermaas Pdf

In A Philosophy of Technology: From Technical Artefacts to Sociotechnical Systems, technology is analysed from a series of different perspectives. The analysis starts by focussing on the most tangible products of technology, called technical artefacts, and then builds step-wise towards considering those artefacts within their context of use, and ultimately as embedded in encompassing sociotechnical systems that also include humans as operators and social rules like legislation. Philosophical characterisations are given of technical artefacts, their context of use and of sociotechnical systems. Analyses are presented of how technical artefacts are designed in engineering and what types of technological knowledge is involved in engineering. And the issue is considered how engineers and others can or cannot influence the development of technology. These characterisations are complemented by ethical analyses of the moral status of technical artefacts and the possibilities and impossibilities for engineers to influence this status when designing artefacts and the sociotechnical systems in which artefacts are embedded. The running example in the book is aviation, where aeroplanes are examples of technical artefacts and the world aviation system is an example of a sociotechnical system. Issues related to the design of quiet aeroplane engines and the causes of aviation accidents are analysed for illustrating the moral status of designing, and the role of engineers therein. Table of Contents: Technical Artefacts / Technical Designing / Ethics and Designing / Technological Knowledge / Sociotechnical Systems / The Role of Social Factors in Technological Development / Ethics and Unintended Consequences of Technology

Author : Peter Kroes
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 210 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2012-05-24
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9789400739406

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Technical Artefacts: Creations of Mind and Matter by Peter Kroes Pdf

This book presents an attempt to understand the nature of technical artefacts and the way they come into being. Its primary focus is the kind of technical artefacts designed and produced by modern engineering. In spite of their pervasive influence on human thinking and doing, and therefore on the modern human condition, a philosophical analysis of technical artefacts and engineering design is lacking. Among the questions addressed are: How do technical artefacts fit into the furniture of the universe? In what sense are they different from objects from the natural world, or from the social world? What kind of activity is engineering design and what does it mean to say that technical artefacts are the embodiment of a design? Does it make sense to consider technical artefacts to be morally good or bad by themselves because of the way they influence human life? The book advances the thesis that technical artefacts, conceived of as physical constructions with a technical function, have a dual nature; they are hybrid objects combining physical and intentional features. It proposes a theory of technical functions and technical artefact kinds that does justice to this dual nature, analyses engineering design from the dual nature point of view, and argues that technical artefacts, because of their dual nature, have inherent moral significance.

Author : Peter Vermaas,Peter Kroes,Ibo van de Poel,Maarten Franssen,Wybo Houkes
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 126 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2022-05-31
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 9783031799716

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A Philosophy of Technology by Peter Vermaas,Peter Kroes,Ibo van de Poel,Maarten Franssen,Wybo Houkes Pdf

In A Philosophy of Technology: From Technical Artefacts to Sociotechnical Systems, technology is analysed from a series of different perspectives. The analysis starts by focussing on the most tangible products of technology, called technical artefacts, and then builds step-wise towards considering those artefacts within their context of use, and ultimately as embedded in encompassing sociotechnical systems that also include humans as operators and social rules like legislation. Philosophical characterisations are given of technical artefacts, their context of use and of sociotechnical systems. Analyses are presented of how technical artefacts are designed in engineering and what types of technological knowledge is involved in engineering. And the issue is considered how engineers and others can or cannot influence the development of technology. These characterisations are complemented by ethical analyses of the moral status of technical artefacts and the possibilities and impossibilities for engineers to influence this status when designing artefacts and the sociotechnical systems in which artefacts are embedded. The running example in the book is aviation, where aeroplanes are examples of technical artefacts and the world aviation system is an example of a sociotechnical system. Issues related to the design of quiet aeroplane engines and the causes of aviation accidents are analysed for illustrating the moral status of designing, and the role of engineers therein. Table of Contents: Technical Artefacts / Technical Designing / Ethics and Designing / Technological Knowledge / Sociotechnical Systems / The Role of Social Factors in Technological Development / Ethics and Unintended Consequences of Technology

Author : Steve Clarke,Hazem Zohny,Julian Savulescu
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2021-08-05
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780192646415

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Rethinking Moral Status by Steve Clarke,Hazem Zohny,Julian Savulescu Pdf

Common-sense morality implicitly assumes that reasonably clear distinctions can be drawn between the "full" moral status that is usually attributed to ordinary adult humans, the partial moral status attributed to non-human animals, and the absence of moral status, which is usually ascribed to machines and other artifacts. These implicit assumptions have long been challenged, and are now coming under further scrutiny as there are beings we have recently become able to create, as well as beings that we may soon be able to create, which blur the distinctions between human, non-human animal, and non-biological beings. These beings include non-human chimeras, cyborgs, human brain organoids, post-humans, and human minds that have been uploaded into computers and onto the internet and artificial intelligence. It is far from clear what moral status we should attribute to any of these beings. There are a number of ways we could respond to the new challenges these technological developments raise: we might revise our ordinary assumptions about what is needed for a being to possess full moral status, or reject the assumption that there is a sharp distinction between full and partial moral status. This volume explores such responses, and provides a forum for philosophical reflection about ordinary presuppositions and intuitions about moral status.

Author : Pieter E. Vermaas,P.A. Kroes,Andrew Light,Steven Moore
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 349 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 2007-12-05
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781402065910

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Philosophy and Design by Pieter E. Vermaas,P.A. Kroes,Andrew Light,Steven Moore Pdf

This volume provides the reader with an integrated overview of state-of-the-art research in philosophy and ethics of design in engineering and architecture. It contains twenty-five essays that focus on engineering designing in its traditional sense, on designing in novel engineering domains, and on architectural and environmental designing. This volume enables the reader to overcome the traditional separation between engineering designing and architectural designing.

Author : Peter-Paul Verbeek
Publisher : Penn State Press
Page : 266 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 2010-11-01
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 0271046562

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What Things Do by Peter-Paul Verbeek Pdf

How are all these things affecting us? How can their role in our lives be understood? What Things Do answers these questions by focusing on how technologies mediate our actions and our perceptions of the world.

Author : Lorenzo Magnani
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 251 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2007-08-13
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781139466899

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Morality in a Technological World by Lorenzo Magnani Pdf

The technological advances of contemporary society have outpaced our moral understanding of the problems that they create. How will we deal with profound ecological changes, human cloning, hybrid people, and eroding cyberprivacy, just to name a few issues? In this book, Lorenzo Magnani argues that existing moral constructs often cannot be applied to new technology. He proposes an entirely different ethical approach, one that blends epistemology with cognitive science. The resulting moral strategy promises renewed dignity for overlooked populations, both of today and of the future.

Author : Luciano Floridi
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 2010-04-15
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781139487528

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The Cambridge Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics by Luciano Floridi Pdf

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have profoundly changed many aspects of life, including the nature of entertainment, work, communication, education, healthcare, industrial production and business, social relations and conflicts. They have had a radical and widespread impact on our moral lives and hence on contemporary ethical debates. The Cambridge Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics, first published in 2010, provides an ambitious and authoritative introduction to the field, with discussions of a range of topics including privacy, ownership, freedom of speech, responsibility, technological determinism, the digital divide, cyber warfare, and online pornography. It offers an accessible and thoughtful survey of the transformations brought about by ICTs and their implications for the future of human life and society, for the evaluation of behaviour, and for the evolution of moral values and rights. It will be a valuable book for all who are interested in the ethical aspects of the information society in which we live.

Author : David J. Gunkel
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 253 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2024-03-19
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780262551571

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Robot Rights by David J. Gunkel Pdf

A provocative attempt to think about what was previously considered unthinkable: a serious philosophical case for the rights of robots. We are in the midst of a robot invasion, as devices of different configurations and capabilities slowly but surely come to take up increasingly important positions in everyday social reality—self-driving vehicles, recommendation algorithms, machine learning decision making systems, and social robots of various forms and functions. Although considerable attention has already been devoted to the subject of robots and responsibility, the question concerning the social status of these artifacts has been largely overlooked. In this book, David Gunkel offers a provocative attempt to think about what has been previously regarded as unthinkable: whether and to what extent robots and other technological artifacts of our own making can and should have any claim to moral and legal standing. In his analysis, Gunkel invokes the philosophical distinction (developed by David Hume) between “is” and “ought” in order to evaluate and analyze the different arguments regarding the question of robot rights. In the course of his examination, Gunkel finds that none of the existing positions or proposals hold up under scrutiny. In response to this, he then offers an innovative alternative proposal that effectively flips the script on the is/ought problem by introducing another, altogether different way to conceptualize the social situation of robots and the opportunities and challenges they present to existing moral and legal systems.

Author : Peter-Paul Verbeek
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 195 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 2011-12-01
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780226852904

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Moralizing Technology by Peter-Paul Verbeek Pdf

Technology permeates nearly every aspect of our daily lives. Cars enable us to travel long distances, mobile phones help us to communicate, and medical devices make it possible to detect and cure diseases. But these aids to existence are not simply neutral instruments: they give shape to what we do and how we experience the world. And because technology plays such an active role in shaping our daily actions and decisions, it is crucial, Peter-Paul Verbeek argues, that we consider the moral dimension of technology. Moralizing Technology offers exactly that: an in-depth study of the ethical dilemmas and moral issues surrounding the interaction of humans and technology. Drawing from Heidegger and Foucault, as well as from philosophers of technology such as Don Ihde and Bruno Latour, Peter-Paul Verbeek locates morality not just in the human users of technology but in the interaction between us and our machines. Verbeek cites concrete examples, including some from his own life, and compellingly argues for the morality of things. Rich and multifaceted, and sure to be controversial, Moralizing Technology will force us all to consider the virtue of new inventions and to rethink the rightness of the products we use every day.

Author : Sven Ove Hansson
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 278 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 2017-03-08
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781783486595

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The Ethics of Technology by Sven Ove Hansson Pdf

This book provides students with a toolbox for the study of the ethics of technology, exploring the methods available for ethical assessments of technologies and their social introduction.

Author : Albany Bonnie Steinbock Associate Professor of Philosophy & Public Policy State University of New York
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 270 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 1992-07-23
Category : Health & Fitness
ISBN : 9780199759682

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Life Before Birth : The Moral and Legal Status of Embryos and Fetuses by Albany Bonnie Steinbock Associate Professor of Philosophy & Public Policy State University of New York Pdf

Hardly a day passes without newspaper coverage of some new development regarding prenatal life. The abortion debate continues to rage, but other examples abound: forced Caesareans; prosecutions of women for drug use during pregnancy; fetal protection policies; the use of fetal tissue for transplantation; embryo research; and the disposition of frozen embryos. All of these issues raise the question of the moral status of the unborn: are embryos and fetuses part of the pregnant woman or are they persons? Are they sources of tissue, research tools, or are they pre-born children? Different conceptions of the unborn prevail in different contexts, giving rise to the charge of inconsistency. For example, women have been criminally charged with abusing their fetuses by using drugs during pregnancy, even though abortion--which pro-lifers call the ultimate child abuse--is legal. The legalization of abortion itself was based in part on the unborn's never having been recognized in law as a full legal person. Yet fetuses have been considered as persons for the purposes of insurance coverage, wrongful death suits, and vehicular homicide. This book provides a framework for thinking clearly and coherently about the unborn. The first chapter elaborates the book's basic idea, that all and only beings who have interests have moral standing, and only beings who possess conscious awareness have interests. This thesis, which is called "the interest view," raises issues of considerable philosophical complexity, but is presented in language non-philosophers will be able to understand. Subsequent chapters apply the interest view, and explore the moral and legal aspects of a wide range of issues, including abortion, the legal status of the fetus outside abortion, maternal-fetal conflict, fetal research, and the use and disposition of extracorporeal embryos resulting from the new reproductive technologies. The philosophical discussion is enlivened by examples and actual cases which immediately catch, and sustain, the reader's interest. Written in a lively style, Life Before Birth: The Moral and Legal Status of Embryos and Fetuses is a timely and important work that enables us to resolve contradictions in our current thinking about the unborn, and to approach new issues in a clear and rational manner.

Author : Andrew Wells Garnar,Ashley Shew
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 231 pages
File Size : 48,6 Mb
Release : 2020-11-03
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781498597630

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Feedback Loops by Andrew Wells Garnar,Ashley Shew Pdf

In a world of information technologies, genetic engineering, controversies about established science, and the mysteries of quantum physics, it is at once seemingly impossible and absolutely vital to find ways to make sense of how science, technology, and society connect. In Feedback Loops: Pragmatism about Science & Technology, editors Andrew Wells Garnar and Ashley Shew bring together original writing from philosophers and science and technology studies scholars to provide novel ways of rethinking the relationships among science, technology, education, and society. Through critiquing and exploring the work of philosopher of science and technology Joseph C. Pitt, the authors featured in this volume investigate the complexities of contemporary technoscience, writing on topics ranging from super-computing to pedagogy, engineering to biotechnology patents, and scientific instruments to disability studies. Taken together, these chapters develop an argument about the necessity of using pragmatism to foster a more productive relationship among science, technology and society.

Author : Anne Gerdes,Mark Coeckelbergh,David Gunkel
Publisher : Frontiers Media SA
Page : 184 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2022-07-07
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 9782889765379

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Should Robots Have Standing? The Moral and Legal Status of Social Robots by Anne Gerdes,Mark Coeckelbergh,David Gunkel Pdf