{"title":"The Technoethical Ethos of Technic Self-Determination","authors":"Francesco Albert Bosco Cortese","doi":"10.4018/IJT.2016070101","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/IJT.2016070101","url":null,"abstract":"This paper addresses concerns that the development and proliferation of Human Enhancement Technologies HET will be a dehumanizing and b a threat to our autonomy and sovereignty as individuals. The paper argues contrarily that HET constitutes nothing less than one of the most effective foreseeable means of increasing the autonomy and sovereignty of individual members of society. Furthermore, it elaborates the position that the use of HET exemplifies-and indeed even intensifies-our most human capacity and faculty: namely the desire for increased self-determination, which is referred to as the will toward self-determination. Based upon this position, the paper argues that the use of HET bears fundamental ontological continuity with the human condition in general and with the historically-ubiquitous will toward self-determination in particular. HET will not be a dehumanizing force, but will rather serve to increase the very capacity that characterizes us as human more accurately than anything else.","PeriodicalId":287069,"journal":{"name":"Int. J. Technoethics","volume":"684 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124709144","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Machine (Technology) Ethics: The Theoretical and Philosophical Paradigms","authors":"Ben Tran","doi":"10.4018/IJT.2016070105","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/IJT.2016070105","url":null,"abstract":"At the foundational level, for computer programmers, the code that programmers build and built into, are based on instructions, and the purpose of the program it later services. But computers do not have their own discretion beyond what humans incorporate into such systems and are essentially limited only to the extent its writer chooses. However, ABET to date, does not provide assurance or require accredited colleges and universities programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and engineering technology to take ethics courses or offer ethics courses nor train graduates in ethics. Yet, graduates, who then become practitioners, and ethical agents, are expected to be ethical agents. Hence, the purpose of this article is on machine ethics, specifically, on the theoretical and philosophical meaning of ethics-different types of ethics and utilitarianism. In addition to exploring the theoretical and philosophical paradigm of ethics, technology will be defined, in relations to machine ethics.","PeriodicalId":287069,"journal":{"name":"Int. J. Technoethics","volume":"39 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115998562","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Politicization of Science and the Use and Abuse of Technology","authors":"Gabriel R. Ricci","doi":"10.4018/IJT.2015070105","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/IJT.2015070105","url":null,"abstract":"This paper examines the dialectical role of science in its promotion of public policy and the manner in which scientific autonomy has been challenged to further political ambition. Various episodes in the ever expanding technological reach of the marriage of science and politics is historically recounted to demonstrate the threat to scientific self-rule and to individual scientists who have been relegated to instrumentally functional roles. It is argued that the emergent class status of scientists has been subverted by the triumvirate of technology, industry and religion. Moreover, science has met its greatest challenge from those entities which understand how the use of technology and scientific discovery translate into regulatory measures.","PeriodicalId":287069,"journal":{"name":"Int. J. Technoethics","volume":"39 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114000333","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Structural Exclusion and Just Development","authors":"A. King","doi":"10.4018/IJT.2015070102","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/IJT.2015070102","url":null,"abstract":"The work of feminists and other critics of global development has successfully demonstrated the persistent failure of development to promote just and equitable social change. The author examines a central cause of this failure, which she refers to as the problem of structural exclusion. Structural exclusion occurs where participation in decision-making is restricted to a narrow range of structural perspectives and interests. The author provides a systematic account of structural exclusion as an epistemic obstacle to just and effective development policy. Drawing on this account, she then propose a principle of structural pluralism, which requires that all relevant structural perspectives be included on equal terms and have equal right and effective opportunity to contribute to or influence deliberations at all levels of decision-making about the appropriate vision and policies of development.","PeriodicalId":287069,"journal":{"name":"Int. J. Technoethics","volume":"291 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132618983","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Drone Warfare: Ethical and Psychological Issues","authors":"R. Churchill","doi":"10.4018/IJT.2015070103","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/IJT.2015070103","url":null,"abstract":"The United States is now relying on Reaper and Predator drone strikes as its primary strategy in the continuing War on Terrorism. This paper argues for the rational scrutiny drone warfare has yet to receive. It is argued that drone warfare is immoral as it fails both the jus in bello and the jus ad bellum conditions of Just War theory. Drone warfare cannot be accepted on utilitarian grounds either, as it is very probable that terrorists will acquire drones capable of lethal strikes and deploy them against defenseless civilians. Moreover, by examining the psychological bases for reliance on drone warfare, as well as the message the United States is sending adversaries, we need to be concerned that, rather than reduce the likelihood of terrorists strikes, the U.S. reliance on drones strikes threatens to institutionalize terrorism as the status quo for the foreseeable future.","PeriodicalId":287069,"journal":{"name":"Int. J. Technoethics","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133347557","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Viral Art Matters: Using Internet-Based Artwork to Fortify Academic Efforts","authors":"Alejandra Emilia Iannone","doi":"10.4018/IJT.2015070106","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/IJT.2015070106","url":null,"abstract":"Since the 1990s, Internet communications technologies have influenced human activity. Over the last 15 years, a phenomenon called virality-i.e., when content circulates via Internet among an increasingly broad audience at an exponentially rapid rate-has been especially impactful. Only some information achieves virality, so the phenomenon invites reflection. Yet, scholars have failed to adequately address the topic. The literature is especially sparse when it comes to viral artwork. This essay helps fill that gap in the literature by demonstrating the academic significance of viral artwork through comparative analysis of three cases where Internet-based artworks went viral: \"Ten Hours of Princess Leia walking in NYC,\" \"New Beginnings,\" and \"McKayla is Not Impressed.\" The author asserts that viral artwork merits rigorous study because doing so could: first, augment existing research on other topics; second, fortify investigations in philosophy of art; and third, guide the public toward better-informed engagement with viral artwork.","PeriodicalId":287069,"journal":{"name":"Int. J. Technoethics","volume":"15 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130023953","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Thinking About Development: The Lived Reality of Globalization","authors":"Eleanor M. Godway","doi":"10.4018/IJT.2015070101","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/IJT.2015070101","url":null,"abstract":"The case is presented for a more human vision of development which would mean a different attitude to globalization. The philosophy of John Macmurray goes beyond traditional dualism of body and mind and the dialectic of Hegel both of which influence much current theorizing to give priority to action over thinking. He challenges contemporary orthodoxy by emphasizing the personal and thus raises questions about the value of scientific knowledge for solving the problems of globalization. The strategy of writing development \"under erasure\" as introduced by Jacques Derrida emphasizes its problematic status. Thus we do have tools to reflect on what is meant by progress and economics and efficiency, and thus reconsider what we might be doing or destroying if we are trying to impose change on the \"underdeveloped\" of the world. tells us: \"All meaningful knowledge is for the sake of action, and all meaningful action for the sake of friendship\" p. 15. The thinking of Howard Richards and associates, and his account of a specific development project in Chile P.P.H. are offered to illustrate this new way of approaching these issues, as it becomes possible to move away from the impersonal conception of efficiency towards the ultimate value of the personal. Thus we can perhaps come to see our future in terms of what we can do to try to build community community from the local to the global.","PeriodicalId":287069,"journal":{"name":"Int. J. Technoethics","volume":"49 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126605326","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Radioactive Waste Disposal and Protection of the Future Public","authors":"J. Tauxe","doi":"10.4018/IJT.2015070107","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/IJT.2015070107","url":null,"abstract":"Much of humanity's solid waste will outlast the human race, and the waste generated by one generation must be endured and managed by future societies. Radioactive wastes are unique in that their regulation explicitly considers the protection of future generations. But radioactive waste management faces a serious quandary: how to balance the substantial expense of waste isolation against the uncertain mitigation of risks to hypothetical future humans. Most of this uncertainty stems not from natural processes, or from the projected performance of engineered materials, but rather from social actions and human behaviors. Given that these uncertainties become overwhelming when consider the future only a few centuries from now, how far into the future is it useful for us to attempt to assess risks? Government regulators are currently grappling with this question as they rewrite regulations in order to accommodate radioactive wastes that have the potential for unacceptable and perpetual human health risks. This paper discusses the issues surrounding the period of performance expected from radioactive waste management practices, and outlines central conditions for soundly addressing controversial problems.","PeriodicalId":287069,"journal":{"name":"Int. J. Technoethics","volume":"80 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131180193","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Case Against Weapons Research","authors":"J. Forge","doi":"10.4018/ijt.2014070101","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/ijt.2014070101","url":null,"abstract":"Weapons research seeks to design new or improved weapons and their ancillary structures. It is argued here that weapons research is both morally wrong and morally unjustified. This ‘case against weapons research' requires lengthy discussion and the argument given here is a summary of that discussion. The central claim is that the ‘standard justification; for all forms of weapons acquisition and deployment, which appeals to defense and deterrence, does not stand up for weapons research because the harms caused by the latter projects into the future in unknowable ways. Weapons research produces practical knowledge in the form of designs for the means to harm, and its practitioners cannot know how this knowledge will be used in the future.","PeriodicalId":287069,"journal":{"name":"Int. J. Technoethics","volume":"18 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122392328","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Leadership Role of the Ethicist: Balancing between the Authoritative and the Passive","authors":"A. Wynsberghe","doi":"10.4018/ijt.2014070102","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/ijt.2014070102","url":null,"abstract":"The pervasive presence of Information and Communication technologies has profound effects on cultural norms and values. This relationship is most commonly referred to in terms of values embedded in a technology (Nissenbaum, 2001). To mitigate potential threats to values, researchers from a variety of disciplines advocate in favor of incorporating ethics into research and design processes. As Boenink (2013) rightly points out, however, there is little work done that outlines exactly what it is that the ethicist does when engaged in ‘ethics in the lab'. This paper aims to fill the gap that Boenink has identified and to contribute to the ongoing discussions related to ethics in the lab. The following work will review what the ethicist does in terms of the tasks of the ethicist as articulated by van Wynsberghe and Robbins (2013) and will present two case studies as examples to illustrate the different role of the ethicist in each. The issue of central importance for this paper is how the ethicist's role differs from one case to the next and what guides this shift. For insight the paper looks to the work of Manders-Huits and Zimmer (2009) and their suggestion of the ‘leadership role'. Finally, it will argue that a virtue ethics approach should be taken in order to guide the ethicist in these divergent roles.","PeriodicalId":287069,"journal":{"name":"Int. J. Technoethics","volume":"56 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128726994","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}