Modern Technology Benefits to Society - PowerPoint

							Modern Technology and Ethical
           Issues

       E 124: Lecture # 2
          Spring 2003
    Ethics and the Impact of Technology
                 on Society

•   What do we mean by ethics?
•   What do we mean by technology?
•   What do we mean by impact?
•   What do we mean by society?
   What Do We Mean by Impacts?

• Intended impacts (benefits): influenced and
  determined by our assumptions, values and
  beliefs.
• Undesirable consequences (“factual”).
  – Imprecision in data and models (risk).
• Unintended impacts (“axiological”).
  – Indeterminacy and ignorance.
What Do We Mean by
   Technology?
           What Is Technology?

• The Oxford Dictionary of the English
  Language (OED) defines technology as, “a
  discourse or treatise on an art or arts: the
  scientific study of the practical or industrial
  arts.”
• It’s roots come from the Greek language
  that combines “systematic treatment” with
  “art or craft.”
        Technology (Continued)

Ian Barbour defines technology as:
“the application of organized knowledge to
  practical tasks by ordered systems of people
  and machines.”
          Technology (Continued)

• “Organized knowledge” includes practical
  experience, invention and scientific theories.
• “Practical tasks” include both the production of
  material goods and the provision of services, i.e.
  the products.
• “Application by ordered systems of people and
  machines” refer to the process of engineering and
  the tools engineers (and others) use.
    What Does Technology Mean?

Drawing from Heidegger and his interpreters,
 rather than technology being an “object” or
 “complex of objects and techniques,”
 (which are a means to an end) that seem
 passive and activated by us only…
 The Meaning of Technology (Continued)

“…it is an autonomous organizing activity
 with which humans themselves are
 organized…. the essence of technology
 reveals it as a vast system of organization
 which encompasses us rather than standing
 objectively and passively ready for our
 direction and control”
            What Is Science?

• Protocol of methodologies for the discovery
  of “fact” through measurement, peer
  review, public validation and debate, and by
  replication by others of the same
  experiments.
• Seems to be the best “fact-finding”
  technique developed by humans.
Where Do Ethical Issues Arise?
 Genetically Modified Organisms and
  Transgenic Plants in Agriculture.
          Global Warming.
   High-level Radioactive Waste
              Disposal.
  Stem Cell Research and Cloning.
   Privacy Issues on the Internet.
           Nanotechnology
   Genetically Modified Crops and
   Transgenic Plants in Agriculture.
• Cultural shifts in farming due to the introduction
  of terminator seeds.
• The anecdotal evidence of allergies to genetically
  modified crops.
• The lack of an adequate risk assessment
  methodology to quantify unintended ecological
  consequences.
• Resistance of intestinal bacteria to antibiotics.
• The preservation of natural genetic crop-lines.
     High-level Radioactive Waste
               Disposal.
• Inter-generational risk.
• The disparity between those who reap the
  benefits of nuclear power and those who
  take the burden of the waste.
• Proliferation of plutonium and nuclear
  weapons.
• The uncertainty in our ability to predict and
  forecast over geological time scales.
              Global Warming
• Green-house gas emission reduction disparity
  between the developing and developed countries.
• The indeterminacy of environmental and
  ecological impacts of fossil fuel use and
  remediation measures.
• “Paradigmatic” science vs. “regulatory” science.
• The disparity among nations/regions in the use of
  the world’s energy and other resources.
    Stem Cell Research and Cloning
•   Preservation versus modification of the human
    germ line.
•   When does life begin?
•   Who owns biological information (genomics)
    and biological materials (cells, tissues, organs).
•   Bio-terrorism, eugenics and the predisposition to
    diseases.
•   The rights to employment and medical insurance.
    Privacy Issues and the Internet


• Intellectual property rights regarding
  everything from music to software.
• Rights to privacy regarding search patterns,
  consumer purchasing and personal (e.g.
  medical) records.
             Nanotechnology

• Regulation (regulation verses free
  enterprise)
• Robustness of the technology against
  accidents (biological interfacing, self-
  replication, environmental issues)
• Misuse (warfare, cosmetic enhancement)
   What Do We Mean by Society?
• How do we draw boundaries?
• Who says what the boundaries are?
• Are we concerned with local or global
  impacts? Inter-generational impacts?
• Spatial/temporal?
• Multi-stakeholder versus individual?
• Who is the public? Who represents the
  public?