Philosophy, Technology and Society – serie

Over the last decades, nanoscience and nanotechnology has been ascribed the potential to contribute beneficial applications in fields such as medicine, cosmetics, or environmental remediation. At the same time it is still contested whether engineered nanomaterials might be not one-sidedly “good” but may also entail negative side-effects for human health and the environment. To address this uncertainty, academic and political initiatives have sought to establish norms and practices to assess and govern nanomaterials. Rooted in different disciplines such as ethics, ecology, law, social and political sciences, the chapters in this edited volume explore the normative approaches, societal practices, and legal mechanisms which have emerged in the nano-field over the last two decades. The chapters also present a broad variety of evaluative approaches that may assist societal actors in their attempts to actively shape and contribute to the debate about nanomaterials.

Paul Ricœur has been one of the most influential and intellectually challenging philosophers of the last century, and his work has contributed to a vast array of fields: studies of language, of history, of ethics and politics. However, he has up until recently only had a minor impact on the philosophy of technology. Interpreting Technology aims to put Ricœur’s work at the centre of contemporary philosophical thinking concerning technology. It investigates his project of critical hermeneutics for rethinking established theories of technology, the growing ethical and political impacts of technologies on the modern lifeworld, and ways of analysing global sociotechnical systems such as the Internet. Ricœur’s philosophy allows us to approach questions such as: how could narrative theory enhance our understanding of technological mediation? How can our technical practices be informed by the ethical aim of living the good life, with and for others, in just institutions? And how does the emerging global media landscape shape our sense of self, and our understanding of history? These questions are more timely than ever, considering the enormous impact technologies have on daily life in the 21st century: on how we shape ourselves with health apps, how we engage with one-another through social media, and how we act politically through digital platforms.

Paul Ricœur has been one of the most influential and intellectually challenging philosophers of the last century, and his work has contributed to a vast array of fields: studies of language, of history, of ethics and politics. However, he has up until recently only had a minor impact on the philosophy of technology. Interpreting Technology aims to put Ricœur’s work at the centre of contemporary philosophical thinking concerning technology. It investigates his project of critical hermeneutics for rethinking established theories of technology, the growing ethical and political impacts of technologies on the modern lifeworld, and ways of analysing global sociotechnical systems such as the Internet. Ricœur’s philosophy allows us to approach questions such as: how could narrative theory enhance our understanding of technological mediation? How can our technical practices be informed by the ethical aim of living the good life, with and for others, in just institutions? And how does the emerging global media landscape shape our sense of self, and our understanding of history? These questions are more timely than ever, considering the enormous impact technologies have on daily life in the 21st century: on how we shape ourselves with health apps, how we engage with one-another through social media, and how we act politically through digital platforms.

From hammers to robots, this book embarks on a comprehensive metaphysical exploration of how we should understand and study technological objects and systems. It reconstructs the metaphysics of technology and offers a unique perspective on the identification and functional classification of objects. Arguing that universal and static approaches are ill-suited to capture relational properties like usefulness, the book introduces a novel approach, called activity realism, which recognises the dynamic identities that objects acquire by playing roles in different activities.How can the role and impact of technologies on human activities be incorporated into the metaphysical study of technologies? How do technologies affect the reality of scientifically postulated entities? How can we functionally distinguish between different types of technologies? Problem-Solving Technologies: A User-Friendly Philosophy engages with such fundamental questions. In this thought-provoking book, the study of objects and their categorisations is paired with an examination of the activities in which they play a role. The result is a practically useful philosophy that helps to navigate the conceptual complexities of modern technology.

From hammers to robots, this book embarks on a comprehensive metaphysical exploration of how we should understand and study technological objects and systems. It reconstructs the metaphysics of technology and offers a unique perspective on the identification and functional classification of objects. Arguing that universal and static approaches are ill-suited to capture relational properties like usefulness, the book introduces a novel approach, called activity realism, which recognises the dynamic identities that objects acquire by playing roles in different activities.How can the role and impact of technologies on human activities be incorporated into the metaphysical study of technologies? How do technologies affect the reality of scientifically postulated entities? How can we functionally distinguish between different types of technologies? Problem-Solving Technologies: A User-Friendly Philosophy engages with such fundamental questions. In this thought-provoking book, the study of objects and their categorisations is paired with an examination of the activities in which they play a role. The result is a practically useful philosophy that helps to navigate the conceptual complexities of modern technology.

As the development of autonomous vehicles proceeds full-speed ahead, it is often said that this new, disruptive form of transportation will change everything. Such a claim has drawn both philosophical and public attention to what could be called ethical emergencies: imaginary situations ranging from life-or-death trolley-problem conundrums to large-scale cyber-attacks on mobility networks. This perspective puts other important, but less dramatic, ethical dilemmas connected with driverless vehicles at risk of being underexplored or simply ignored. The primary focus of the original essays collected together in this volume shifts to considering these issues, ones arising out of more everyday human-autonomous vehicle relations and encounters. Topics investigated range from how driverless vehicles ethically affect what it is to be a pedestrian to how they could inspire more opportunities for social justice, along with a consideration of the need for policy makers to look at the softer impacts of driverless cars. Overall, this volume contributes to defining a new area of exploration connected to the ethics of driverless vehicles, one that should appeal not only to philosophers of technology but to engineering designers, regulators, and urban planners as well.Contributors: Jason Borenstein, Jeremy Carp, Shane Epting, Sven Ove Hansson, Joseph Herkert, Ike Kamphof, Robert Kirkman, Diane Michelfelder, Keith Miller, Sven Nyholm, Robert Rosenberger, Patrick Schmidt, Tsjalling Swierstra, and Galit Wellner

We live in a world of rapidly growing gaps between rich and poor. In the rich parts of the world, new resource-consuming devices are launched every year. But at the same time, about a fourth of the world’s population does not have access to clean drinking water, and more than half lack safely managed sanitation. What role does technology have in these growing global inequalities? Is technological development the root cause of inequality? Or is the unequal distribution of technology just a mirror of social inequities that have other causes? And can new technologies be instrumental in making the world less unfair?In Technology and Equality, these issues are addressed from a wide range of perspectives by scholars in disciplines such as history, sociology, gender studies, anthropology, economics, law, ethics, and philosophy. Case studies highlight technology-related inequalities for instance in climate mitigation, public transport, access to water, waste management, sanitation, air pollution, healthcare, digital communication, and law enforcement. The more theoretical chapters provide tools and concepts that are helpful for analyzing and understanding the relationships between technology and inequality in other applications and in more general perspectives.

Analyzing the roles technology plays in growing global inequalities, this collection combines theory with case studies to expose causes and correlations, as well as potential solutions. Contributing scholars provide perspectives from history, sociology, gender studies, anthropology, economics, law, ethics, and philosophy.We live in a world of rapidly growing gaps between rich and poor. In the rich parts of the world, new resource-consuming devices are launched every year. But at the same time, about a fourth of the world’s population does not have access to clean drinking water, and more than half lack safely managed sanitation. What role does technology have in these growing global inequalities? Is technological development the root cause of inequality? Or is the unequal distribution of technology just a mirror of social inequities that have other causes? And can new technologies be instrumental in making the world less unfair?In this collection, these issues are addressed from a wide range of perspectives by scholars in disciplines such as history, sociology, gender studies, anthropology, economics, law, ethics, and philosophy. Case studies highlight technology-related inequalities for instance in climate mitigation, public transport, access to water, waste management, sanitation, air pollution, healthcare, digital communication, and law enforcement. The more theoretical chapters provide tools and concepts that are helpful for analyzing and understanding the relationships between technology and inequality in other applications and in more general perspectives.

Social robots are an increasingly integral part of society, already appearing as customer service assistants, care-home helpers, teaching assistants and personal companions. This book argues that the wider inclusion of social robots in our society is having a revolutionary impact on some of our key intuitions regarding ethics, metaphysics and epistemology and, as such, will put pressure on many of our best theories.Social robots elicit an emotional and social response in humans that some have taken to be evidence that robots deserve moral consideration. Others have argued that, as robots are only machines, we should avoid designing robots that encourage emotional engagement. The fictional dualism model provides a new way for us to view social robots and a new route for our continued relationship with them. When we engage with a social robot, we create a fictional overlay that has wants, needs and desires. Our emotional attachment to social robots is a natural continuation of our relationship to fiction: a life-enhancing and important connection, but not one that prompts moral consideration for the fictional entity. In this book, Paula Sweeney shows how the fictional dualism model of social robots differs from other popular models. In addition to providing a distinctive and ethically appropriate framework for emotional engagement without moral consideration, the model provides conditions for trusting social robots and, uniquely, allows us to individuate social robots as distinct persons, even in contexts in which they share a collective mind.

Social robots are an increasingly integral part of society, already appearing as customer service assistants, care-home helpers, teaching assistants and personal companions. This book argues that the wider inclusion of social robots in our society is having a revolutionary impact on some of our key intuitions regarding ethics, metaphysics and epistemology and, as such, will put pressure on many of our best theories.Social robots elicit an emotional and social response in humans that some have taken to be evidence that robots deserve moral consideration. Others have argued that, as robots are only machines, we should avoid designing robots that encourage emotional engagement. The fictional dualism model provides a new way for us to view social robots and a new route for our continued relationship with them. When we engage with a social robot, we create a fictional overlay that has wants, needs and desires. Our emotional attachment to social robots is a natural continuation of our relationship to fiction: a life-enhancing and important connection, but not one that prompts moral consideration for the fictional entity. In this book, Paula Sweeney shows how the fictional dualism model of social robots differs from other popular models. In addition to providing a distinctive and ethically appropriate framework for emotional engagement without moral consideration, the model provides conditions for trusting social robots and, uniquely, allows us to individuate social robots as distinct persons, even in contexts in which they share a collective mind.

Our daily lives are affected by new technologies at an ever increasing rate. It is becoming more and more important to assess future technologies from an ethical point of view, and to do this before they are introduced on a massive scale. Such assessments require systematic use of many different kinds of knowledge. In this important new book, an international team of leading experts in the field provides the first comprehensive treatment of the methods available for ethical assessments of technologies and their social introduction. The book explores how information from empirical research can be used in ethical analyses of technology and includes chapters showing how ethical analysis can shed light on topics such as privacy, risk, sustainability, dual use, gender issues, justice, international technology transfer, and the responsibility of engineers. It provides an invaluable resource for students in the philosophy and ethics of technology, science and technology studies, applied ethics, bioethics, business ethics and the ethics of computing.

Our daily lives are affected by new technologies at an ever increasing rate. It is becoming more and more important to assess future technologies from an ethical point of view, and to do this before they are introduced on a massive scale. Such assessments require systematic use of many different kinds of knowledge. In this important new book, an international team of leading experts in the field provides the first comprehensive treatment of the methods available for ethical assessments of technologies and their social introduction. The book explores how information from empirical research can be used in ethical analyses of technology and includes chapters showing how ethical analysis can shed light on topics such as privacy, risk, sustainability, dual use, gender issues, justice, international technology transfer, and the responsibility of engineers. It provides an invaluable resource for students in the philosophy and ethics of technology, science and technology studies, applied ethics, bioethics, business ethics and the ethics of computing.

Cities’ transportation systems affect people, nonhuman life, urban artifacts, and could impact future generations, increasing tensions through what appear to be conflicting interests at times. Ethically addressing these concerns requires dealing with the problem of moral prioritization. Shane Epting illustrates how “moral ordering” benefits this issue. Examining these matters provides conceptual advantages for thinking through the ethical dimensions of urban mobility in an everchanging world. Along with these insights, this book reveals how exploring transportation philosophically deepens our understanding of what it means to move about the city.

Over the last decades, nanoscience and nanotechnology has been ascribed the potential to contribute beneficial applications in fields such as medicine, cosmetics, or environmental remediation. At the same time it is still contested whether engineered nanomaterials might be not one-sidedly “good” but may also entail negative side-effects for human health and the environment. To address this uncertainty, academic and political initiatives have sought to establish norms and practices to assess and govern nanomaterials. Rooted in different disciplines such as ethics, ecology, law, social and political sciences, the chapters in this edited volume explore the normative approaches, societal practices, and legal mechanisms which have emerged in the nano-field over the last two decades. The chapters also present a broad variety of evaluative approaches that may assist societal actors in their attempts to actively shape and contribute to the debate about nanomaterials.

While the interdependence of the different aspects of water security and the relevance of ethical and distributive aspects is acknowledged in both policy circles and academia, a comprehensive introduction to water ethics is still missing. This book aims to fill that gap, by exploring the common thread that follows from three current interrelated debates: the allocation of water resources, the human right to water, and the commodification and privatisation of water services. These questions create a plea for alternatives to the predominantly consequentialist approach to dealing with water issues. The author explores the normative and ethical aspects of flood and water-related risks, and looks at the topic of responsibility: who should be responsible for correcting inequities, or taking remedial action in the case of pollution? These and other questions to be linked to ongoing discussion in other disciplines within philosophy, such as environmental ethics, climate ethics, the ethics of technology and climate justice, making this text important across a wide range of courses for upper undergraduate and graduate students.

While the interdependence of the different aspects of water security and the relevance of ethical and distributive aspects is acknowledged in both policy circles and academia, a comprehensive introduction to water ethics is still missing. This book aims to fill that gap, by exploring the common thread that follows from three current interrelated debates: the allocation of water resources, the human right to water, and the commodification and privatisation of water services. These questions create a plea for alternatives to the predominantly consequentialist approach to dealing with water issues. The author explores the normative and ethical aspects of flood and water-related risks, and looks at the topic of responsibility: who should be responsible for correcting inequities, or taking remedial action in the case of pollution? These and other questions to be linked to ongoing discussion in other disciplines within philosophy, such as environmental ethics, climate ethics, the ethics of technology and climate justice, making this text important across a wide range of courses for upper undergraduate and graduate students.

Can robots perform actions, make decisions, collaborate with humans, be our friends, perhaps fall in love, or potentially harm us? Even before these things truly happen, ethical and philosophical questions already arise. The reason is that we humans have a tendency to spontaneously attribute minds and “agency” to anything even remotely humanlike. Moreover, some people already say that robots should be our companions and have rights. Others say that robots should be slaves. This book tackles emerging ethical issues about human beings, robots, and agency head on. It explores the ethics of creating robots that are, or appear to be, decision-making agents. From military robots to self-driving cars to care robots or even sex robots equipped with artificial intelligence: how should we interpret the apparent agency of such robots? This book argues that we need to explore how human beings can best coordinate and collaborate with robots in responsible ways. It investigates ethically important differences between human agency and robot agency to work towards an ethics of responsible human-robot interaction.

Can robots perform actions, make decisions, collaborate with humans, be our friends, perhaps fall in love, or potentially harm us? Even before these things truly happen, ethical and philosophical questions already arise. The reason is that we humans have a tendency to spontaneously attribute minds and “agency” to anything even remotely humanlike. Moreover, some people already say that robots should be our companions and have rights. Others say that robots should be slaves. This book tackles emerging ethical issues about human beings, robots, and agency head on. It explores the ethics of creating robots that are, or appear to be, decision-making agents. From military robots to self-driving cars to care robots or even sex robots equipped with artificial intelligence: how should we interpret the apparent agency of such robots? This book argues that we need to explore how human beings can best coordinate and collaborate with robots in responsible ways. It investigates ethically important differences between human agency and robot agency to work towards an ethics of responsible human-robot interaction.

As the development of autonomous vehicles proceeds full-speed ahead, it is often said that this new, disruptive form of transportation will change everything. Such a claim has drawn both philosophical and public attention to what could be called ethical emergencies: imaginary situations ranging from life-or-death trolley-problem conundrums to large-scale cyber-attacks on mobility networks. This perspective puts other important, but less dramatic, ethical dilemmas connected with driverless vehicles at risk of being underexplored or simply ignored. The primary focus of the original essays collected together in this volume shifts to considering these issues, ones arising out of more everyday human-autonomous vehicle relations and encounters. Topics investigated range from how driverless vehicles ethically affect what it is to be a pedestrian to how they could inspire more opportunities for social justice, along with a consideration of the need for policy makers to look at the softer impacts of driverless cars. Overall, this volume contributes to defining a new area of exploration connected to the ethics of driverless vehicles, one that should appeal not only to philosophers of technology but to engineering designers, regulators, and urban planners as well.Contributors: Jason Borenstein, Jeremy Carp, Shane Epting, Sven Ove Hansson, Joseph Herkert, Ike Kamphof, Robert Kirkman, Diane Michelfelder, Keith Miller, Sven Nyholm, Robert Rosenberger, Patrick Schmidt, Tsjalling Swierstra, and Galit Wellner

This book investigates behaviour change technologies (BCTs) from an ethical perspective, examining the broader societal and philosophical implications of these types of technologies. These technologies—ranging from fitness trackers and smart home systems to digital nudging and persuasive AI—are increasingly shaping our choices, habits, and lifestyles. This book moves beyond nudging and persuasion to explore a broader spectrum of ethical concerns, including autonomy, privacy, trust, responsibility, and social justice. Contributors from leading scholars do not merely critique BCTs but also offer constructive ethical frameworks and ethical analysis for their responsible design and implementation.