Philosophy and Ethics 314

Contents
WHAT IS? ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 2
What is philosophy?..................................................................................................................................................................................... 2
What is culture? ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 2
What is technology? .................................................................................................................................................................................... 2
Four views of technology .................................................................................................................................................................................. 2
Technology as tools and machines (hardware) ............................................................................................................................................ 2
Technology as rules...................................................................................................................................................................................... 2
Technology as applied science ..................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Technology as a system ............................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Conflicting Visions of Technology - Discussed ................................................................................................................................................... 4
Technology as a system ............................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Living in a Technological Society .................................................................................................................................................................. 4
Conflicting Visions of technology ................................................................................................................................................................. 4
2 Conflicting Views of Technology ..................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Technological Optimism (omnipotence) ...................................................................................................................................................... 4
Technological Pessimism (impotence) ......................................................................................................................................................... 5
Technology is artificial ............................................................................................................................................................................ 5
Technology is autonomous/self-determining ......................................................................................................................................... 5
Technology has unintended consequences ............................................................................................................................................ 5
Science, Technology and Culture....................................................................................................................................................................... 6
Culture: Humans transform nature in two ways .......................................................................................................................................... 6
Culture as the Transformation of the natural world................................................................................................................................ 6
Culture as the Transformation of the natural in the human man......................................................................................................... 6
Culture: Two further features of culture ...................................................................................................................................................... 6
Science: What is science .............................................................................................................................................................................. 6
Science as a Culture Practice........................................................................................................................................................................ 7
Knowledge is virtue ................................................................................................................................................................................ 7
Knowledge is power ............................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Recap................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 8
Risk .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9
The Engineers perspective .......................................................................................................................................................................... 9
The Laymans perspective (non-expert) ..................................................................................................................................................... 10
The Government Regulators perspective.................................................................................................................................................. 10
Superconducting Supercollider ....................................................................................................................................................................... 11
Technoscience ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 11
From applied science to Technoscience: technology cannot be regarded as the handmaiden of science it is central to scientific
practice ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 11
Co-dependency between Technoscience and political, public, economic and scientific communities:................................................ 11
Ethical considerations are unavoidable ................................................................................................................................................ 11
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 11
WHAT IS?
What is philosophy?
Philosophy looks at the questions behind our everyday enquiries: it is a stepping back from
the activity
Conceptual questions: It seeks to clarify the meaning of concepts, particularly abstract
concepts like person, freedom, justice, truth, reality, culture, technology
Questions of meaning: It considers the whys which remain untouched by other academic
disciplines, and asks questions about meaning-giving ideas by means of which we orientate
ourselves in our lives
What is culture?
In its broadest sense culture refers to the multiple ways in which humankind acts upon,
shapes and interprets its environment: culture is the transformation of nature
In this sense, culture is what separates us from non-human animals
One answer: higher intellectual expressions of mankind
Agriculture and horticulture
Culture as music/art/literature
What is technology?
Technology is everywhere but hidden: technology tends to fade into the background
It functions best when hidden
Systems become visible when something breaks down!

Four views of technology

Technology as tools and machines (hardware)
Under this view, technology is a collection of devices (tools, machines, instruments,
structures)
Reflections:
Human beings manipulate devices; they give tools purpose.
Technology as hardware appear to be value-neutral. But is this really the
case? Are cellphones value-neutral?
Value-neutral = not presupposing the acceptance of any particular values
Problems:
Some thinkers argue that the earliest machine in human history was the
organization of large numbers of people (e.g. construction of pyramids)
Technological hardware does not always function as technology
Sometimes technologies seem to function as extensions of who we are, not
simply as things we use - e.g. the internet, social networks, clothes?
Technology as rules
Reflections:
Technology involves patterns of means-end relationships
Perhaps the hardware is not the central characteristic of technology -
instead it might be the pattern of rules, directed toward problem-solving?
Technology as software, not hardware?
 Examples:
Speech recognition algorithms
Traffic control engineering
Software engineering
Problems:
When you take the human ability to manipulate physical things out of the
description, you lose a vital dimension of technology
All technologies seem to use some reliable physical effect from nature
Technology as applied science
Reflections:
The application of science in service of the needs of humanity
Some aspects of technology are applied science
BUT the definition is often misleading. In particular, it makes technology
seem value-neutral (it links in to the understanding of technology as tools)
Historically, most of the rise of technology (in the 19th century) did not
derive directly from knowledge of science
Examples Contradicting the view:
Thomas Edison did not know the electromagnetic theory of James Clerk
Maxwell
Many chemical discoveries are a result of accidents: eg safety glass,
synthetic dye:
1) The pacemaker
2) The Post-it
3) The slinky
Technologists use/exploit science in order to improve their technologies.
The more you can predict, the more you can control
Scientific knowledge becomes woven into technology (and vice versa! The
telescope created the science of astronomy)

Technology as a system
Reflections:
If a tool is to count as technology, it has to be embedded in a community of
people who have the expertise to use it, maintain it and repair it
Technology includes the whole complex the train network, the cancer
screening programme, the cell phone communication network
Technology shifts who you are. (Imagine you had your cell phone stolen or
all power was to completely cease)
Tech Hardware vs Tech System:
Example: the cell phone in one country may not be part of the same system
as it is in another country (its social value may be quite different), but will be
made exactly the same
Compare how you and your parents or grandparents use cell phones
The way in which a technology is embedded may differ from family to
family, university to university, country to country
If technology shifts our way of being in the world, what does this say about it?
Who or what is initiating the shift?
To what extent does human society control the changing shape of technology?
To what extent does technology control the changing shape of human society?
Conflicting Visions of
Technology - Discussed
Technology as a system
Problem-solving (rules)
Relies upon some physical effect from nature (hardware)
Interwoven with science (applied science)
Includes the entire technological system hardware, software, users
Complexity!
Living in a Technological Society
Is it possible to reject (modern) technology?
Is this a bad thing? What attitude should we have towards our reliance on technology?
Conflicting Visions of technology
Technology solves problems it makes our lives easier
Medicine (eradication of childhood diseases, huge reduction in maternal mortality
rate, life-extending technologies, etc.)
Agriculture
Transport and communication
On the other hand, technology also creates problems
Pollution, environmental damage
New technologies also raise new (philosophical and moral!) questions

2 Conflicting Views of
Technology
Technological Optimism (omnipotence)
we are in control
we can use technology to bend the course of nature to our will
Technology is value-neutral: if things go wrong, the problem is with humans and not with
technology itself. Instrumentalist view of technology.
We are in control! Bacon: Knowledge is power
When things do go wrong (eg. environmental degradation) technology will eventually solve
the problem
Technology progress (control of nature)
Technology freedom
from our vulnerability to nature
from mental drudgery that can be outsourced
from physical labour (why is this desirable?)
 Technology equality
What view of human nature is associated with technological optimism?
Exemptionalism (Uncountable): The belief that the relationship between humans
and the natural environment is unimportant because humans are "exempt" from
other creatures.
A problem with this view: it assumes that technology will not fall into the wrong hands and
that technology will not be abused
To make sure this doesnt happen, control is necessary
Conflicts with idea that technological progress increases freedom and equality

Technological Pessimism (impotence)

We are enslaved and dominated by technology which escapes our control
Emphasises social costs of technology: we cannot dominate nature through the use of
technology; instead we are dominated by a technological system
Not a new attitude: Prometheus and Icarus myths, Luddite movement
3 features of technology identified by technological pessimists:
Technology is artificial
Natural is good, artificial is bad
Two problems with this View:
Is the split between what is natural and what is artificial
clear/sustainable?
Is natural always superior to artificial?
o The naturalistic fallacy
Technology is autonomous/self-determining
Technology is out of human control: a self-determining system
True, to some extent?
Beyond individual control (we are all subject to a technological
infrastructure)
Governmental control limited
BUT: a lack of total control does not equal no control!
(Note: this criticism of technology is sometimes replaced by the idea that
technology is imposed upon us by corporations eg. Big Pharma)
Technology has unintended consequences
Technologies (means) are introduced to serve certain purposes (ends), but
have consequences that were neither intended nor anticipated
Example: The pill and the sexual revolution; the internet
Unintended consequences even more likely because many technologies are
part of complex technological networks
Problems:
Technologies may not always serve the ends they were originally
intended to serve, but are still serving (other) human ends
Again: a lack of total control does not equal no control!
Science, Technology and Culture
Culture: Humans transform nature in two ways
Culture as the Transformation of the natural world
Humankind transforms the natural world by cultivating the natural environment
(Rossouw: bewerking p. 92)
Physical transformation: buildings, roads, cities, agriculture, products, and
the tools by means of which this transformation is achieved
Social structures: economic, political, educational systems and institutions
(the organisation of society)
Technology plays a fundamental role in this cultivation of the natural world

Culture as the Transformation of the natural in the human man

Human beings do not only cultivate the natural environment, but also interpret it
We reflect upon the meaning and value of events/phenomena and develop an ethos
to direct our lives
In other words: we develop a life orientation, we decide how to live and dont just
respond to our natural instincts
This includes all our values and aspirations (morality, religious convictions, aesthetic
ideals) and the social and interpersonal conventions and customs which express
these values
Think of the ways in which we interpret and transform our natural drives
Culture: Two further features of culture
Culture is communal
Culture is subject to historical change, and is diverse (cultural differences exist)
Two recent trends in relation to this last feature:
Cultural change is accelerating (do you agree?)
Cultural diversity is decreasing (do you agree?)
Science: What is science
Difficulty: many disciplines claim to be engaged in the practice of science, with different
methodologies
Natural sciences, social sciences, applied sciences
Broad definition: science is a process of systematic acquisition of knowledge, and is driven
by the striving for knowledge. (ie. the attempt of the human intellect to attain, by disciplined
means, coherent, rationally justifiable and universally valid insights into the nature of reality)

Universally valid: The particular identity/circumstances of the scientist is irrelevant, i.e. any
competent scientist must be able to reproduce the same results

Rationally justifiable: Evidence and reasons must be presented in order to justify a

conclusion

Coherent (systematic): A given insight must fit into a larger whole, and be consistent with,
other insights

Disciplined manner: Scientific practise proceeds according to a clear, identifiable

methodology that is binding on all scientists (discipline-specific methodologies)
Science as a Culture Practice
Rossouw, argues that the historical practice of science has been influenced by two views of
knowledge (kennisideale) which correspond to the aspects of culture identified earlier
Knowledge is virtue
culture as the transformation of the natural in man (interpretation: deciding
how to live lewensetos)
Virtue = excellence. Behaving in a way that is characteristically human, and
playing ones part in society well.
A virtuous life leads to eudaimonia (happiness)
Since everyone wants to be happy, and the only way to be happy is to be
virtuous, the only reason why one would not be virtuous is because one is
ignorant.
Thus, the path to virtue is knowledge: once you know what is good, you will
behave in that way.
Knowledge enables us to be virtuous, and aims at insights that promote
virtue
Virtue: Habits of action that enables us to live a good life; to have a
successful life-orientation (lewensorentasie)
Knowledge in service of the good/meaningful life
Such a view of knowledge promotes those disciplines that interpret the
value and meaning of life and that try to find a dependable ethos to direct
human life
Summary:
Everyone wants to be happy
The path to happiness is virtue
Therefore, the only reason why people are not virtuous is because they
dont know how to be.
So if they know how to be virtuous, they will be virtuous
= the purpose of knowledge is to teach people how to live virtuously
Knowledge is power
culture as the transformation of the natural world (cultivation: making the
natural world inhabitable leefwreld)
Power: The ability to manipulate and control; to transform the natural
world in accordance with human will
The scope of this power is determined by the level of technical ability in a
society
This view of knowledge sees science as being directed towards practical
application and results in technological progress that is used to transform
nature (technological optimism)
This does not mean that the individual scientist is driven by the search for
power, (s)he might well be driven by the quest for insight.
But modern scientific practice values exactly those insights that increase
human technical ability, and science aims at exactly those insights that make
nature quantifiable, predictable and hence controllable
 Science is a cultural practice (an activity which contributes towards culture) in two senses:
Some scientific disciplines interpret the value and meaning of life and try to find a
dependable ethos to direct human life (they transform the natural in man)
Some scientific disciplines provide knowledge about nature which makes nature
quantifiable and predictable, and which can be practically applied to transform
nature (they transform the natural world): technology plays a role here

What is the significance of this insight?

Positive: increased standard of living, recognition of common humanity
Negative: the accelerating rate of change leads to problems such as environmental
degradation, but also increases ethical disorientation and uncertainty (the
transformation of the world demands reflection upon how to live in this
transformed world = a transformed or revised life orientation)
Many of the negative consequences of scientific and technological progress can be
solved by further scientific and technological progress
BUT, this is not enough
Is there a problem with privileging one view of knowledge over another?

Recap
Life Orientation
This is the totality of meaning-giving ideas according to which we organise our lives.
We exhibit these meaning-giving ideas in our daily activities, which are aimed at
achieving a larger life-strategy it is the vision we have for our lives, how we think
our lives ought to play out.
Examples: knowledge is important, it is desirable to be educated, life is
meaningful when shared, family matters, beauty improves quality of life,
diversity is enriching
These meaning-giving ideas are the basis on which we transform the natural in us.

Value-neutral
If technology was value neutral, you would be in complete control of how exactly
technologies influence and change your lives.
The idea is that people have values, technology does not have values.
Technology cannot change the way you live your life except if you explicitly want it
to.
However: if technology has unintended consequences, if it changes the way you
inhabit the world in ways you did not necessarily predict and control, then it is not
value neutral.

Culture
Risk
The Engineers perspective
Engineers definition of risk:
A compound measure of the probability and magnitude of adverse effect (harm).
Is harm quantifiable?
Some forms of harm (for example, economic and physical impairments) are
quantifiable
Other forms of harm (psychological harm, decreases in quality of life) are more
difficult to quantify
Harm is an evaluative concept
Harm is an invasion or limitation of freedom or well-being (of a person or of any other being
or aspect of the environment)
Harm also involves moral evaluation
Personal harm = setting back of interests
Harm is at least partially subjective and context-dependent
In high risk technologies, two characteristics which make them susceptible to accidents:
tight coupling: failure in one part of a chemical plant quickly affects failure in
another part
complex interaction: parts of system can interact in unanticipated ways
Example: chemical plant, nuclear power plant, space missions

Normalizing of deviance:
Accepting anomaly and increasing boundary of acceptable risk
This is particularly dangerous in the face of advancing technology (where the set standards
are no longer adequate)

Cost-Benefit Analysis and Acceptable Risk

A risk is acceptable if:
the probability of producing harm is equalled or exceeded by the probability of
producing benefits
or:
the total cost of preventing the harm is greater than the total cost of not preventing the
harm
Problems:
Anticipating costs (risks) and benefits especially with new technology
Translating risks and benefits into monetary terms: what value do you place on
human life? What value do you place on the survival of a species? What value
do you place on the lives of future generations?
Distribution of costs and benefits
The role of informed consent

Important to note:
Engineers should adopt a critical attitude in the assessment of risk and be aware of
perspectives other than their own.
The Laymans perspective (non-expert)

Laymans definition of risk:

An acceptable risk is one in which risk is assumed, by free and informed consent, or properly
compensated, and which is justly distributed, or properly compensated

The public (laypeople) have the tendency to overestimate the likelihood of low-probability
risks and to underestimate the likelihood of high-probability risks
Availability heuristic just one cognitive bias which makes most people poor assessors of
risk
But, the public also differs from the risk-expert in terms of what makes risk acceptable
2 features of acceptable risk that are not taken into account by cost-benefit analysis (the
risk-expert), but which are important to the layperson:
Informed Consent:
has 3 components:
1) A person must not be coerced (act freely)
2) The relevant information must be provided
3) A person must be rational and competent
Just Distribution:
Whether risks are distributed fairly
Benefits and risks should be equitably distributed
It is unjust if one party is exposed to risk while another party reaps the
benefits

The Government Regulators perspective

Government Regulators definition of risk:

An acceptable risk is one in which protecting the public from harm has been weighted more
heavily that benefitting the public

Scientists and policymakers have different priorities when it comes to scientific studies:
Scientists have bias to avoid false positives, whereas policy makers have a bias to
avoid false negatives.
It is more expensive to eliminate false negatives than false positives (due to a larger
sample size), so these studies are less likely to be run.
Studies are sometimes privately funded and scientists may have a vested interest in
eliminating false positives
Superconducting Supercollider
Technoscience

Three features of Technoscience:

From applied science to Technoscience: technology cannot be regarded as the handmaiden of
science it is central to scientific practice
The practice of (pure!) science is impossible without technology: scientific insights
grounded on information that can only be accessed via technology
There are ten times more engineers and technicians employed at CERN than
scientists (Large Hadron Collider = the biggest machine in the world)
Concerns about technical feasibility of project contributed towards failure, as well as
concerns about the cost of technology
Co-dependency between Technoscience and political, public, economic and scientific communities:
The project could not succeed without political support, and political considerations
influenced decision-making
Political decision-making is dependent upon economic considerations: cost
projections, impact upon the economy, comparisons with the cost of other projects
Public perception also influences the level of political support: how the public thinks
about the value of the project matters
Ethical considerations are unavoidable
Project motivated not only by scientific considerations, but also by benefits to
society (for example, job creation)
Concerns around how money should best be spent: justifiability of SSC in
comparison to Star Wars project, other scientific projects, education
Knowledge as virtue again!

Conclusion
Technology is not just a set of devices that we use
Rather, technology is bound up with culture, and cannot be separated from political,
economic, and ethical considerations