Common Sense View

1. Objects are mere tools
2. have no moral properties
3. can't blame bomb for wrongdoing if it kills people

Strong view

1. Technological artifacts do have moral properties
2. Based on Actor-Network Theory (ANT): the boundary between objects and subjects (humans) are no longer possible to uphold

Moderate View

1. Objects can't be part of the subject
2. the object can't be morally responsible
3. Artifacts do have relevance based on new abilities it gives humans

first-order responsibility

responsibility to carry out morally right actions

second-order responsibility

responsibility to make sure that there are some morally good actions to choose

Kantian thesis: ought vs. can

ought= obligation
can = possibility
new actions become that weren't --> may change our moral obligations

Is Technology Neutral

1. claims technology is not neautral b/c it has a value system

Is Technology Neutral
NEUTRAL

tech. is not neutral as in chemistry "having no effect".
counter arguments say that technologies are neutral: they are simply tools than can be used one way or another

Is Technology Neutral
MEANING OF TECHNOLOGY

combo of art and reason used to satisfy industrial, commercial and social objectives

Is Technology Neutral
VALUES OF TECHNOLOGY

1. major values: objectivity, quantification, and utilitarianism
2. lesser value terms: efficieny and a systems approach which emphasizes function over device

Is Technology Neutral
TECHNOLOTY ENFRAMING

1. The earth is not a standing reserve, this is dangerous
2.technical framing viewpoint is correct, but incomplete. it is dangerous to mistaken correctness for completeness

Heidegger's Perspective

one major consequence of the anthropocentric utilitarian viewpoint of tech. is that it treats the world as a "standing reserve

Technology and Society

(Whelchel) relationship between tech and society is bilateral, not unilateral

Technology as a Human Enterprise

(Whelchel)
1. as practitioners of tech, we need to ensure that the tech view-point does not become the sole ethos of our sciety. It is our duty, to ourselves, as well as to society, to abet cultural diversity
2. appreciation of tech. by those outside its

technological optimism

the effects of technology on human well-being are good

technological pessimism

technology will lead to undesirable effects

technological determinism

technological development has a life of its own that cannot be controlled by individual humans or even society

critical approach to technology

1. democratic deliberation on technology: engineers should assist in intelligent and informed democratic deliberation on science and tech. policy
2. Critical attitude in design: engineers must identify and responsibly consider value issues in the design p

strong anthropocentrism

human centered
humans desires>non-human needs

weak anthropocentrism

humans have priority, but the well being of non humanoid organisms is given more consideration

biocentrism

life-centered, holders see humans as fellow citizens of the world, but the ranks of citizens include other organisms
-claims anthropocentric is myopic

instrumental value

value given to a thing due to how it participates in or enabled an end or goal beyond itsself

intrinsic value

value of something that is the ultimate aim of at least one thing valued instrumentally

wilderness act of 1964

recognized intrinsic value of wild lands

National env. protection act of 1969

authorized the formation of the EPA

Clean Water Act

sets water quality standards and requires permitting when pollutants are discharged in navigable waters

The Clean Water Act (1972)

gives EPA power to set water quality standards to surface water and for industrial wastewater, and it requires that all sources that discharge pollutants into navigable water to be permitted

Clean Air Act

sets national ambient air quality standards and allows regulation of air pollutants

1990 Amendment of Clean Air Act

used "cap and trade" to address acid rain, urban air pollution, and toxic air pollutants

Revised montreal protocol

eliminated ozone-depleting chemicals such as CFCs

Kyoto Protocol

sets international standards for reducing GHG emissions

NSPE Sustainable Development

engineers are encouraged to adhere to the principles of sustainable development in order to protect the environment for future generations
ASCE: engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public and shall strive to comply with t

Sustainable Development

Brundtland Report:
development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

Life Cycle Analysis (autodesk)

1. define the problem by looking at the whole system
2. prioritize objectives by assessing life-cycle impacts
3. Brainstorm solutions by looking at the whole system
4. use metrics to evaluate and choose solutions
5. repeat

Life Cycle Analysis (Audi)

1. development phase: assess materials and semi-finished product
2. production phase: assess component and completed vehicle
3. use phase: asses the fuel/electricity
4. recylcing phase: assess process chains of valuable materials

goal of life cycles analysis

analyze the effects of a product on the environment during its entire existence, from production to its period of use and its end-of-life recycling
-this shifts focus to making products sustainable without driving costs way up or performance way down

Washington Accord

equivalent accreditation systems for uniformity in education programs so employers world wide can know that engineers have mastered a common body of knowledge

ABET

Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology
US accrediting

EUR ING

Accepted in 30 European countries
Equivalent to PE in America

FEANI

Organization established for common standards in Europe for licensing individual engineers
they award the EUR ING professional title

absolutist and relativist

boundary problem faced when engineers enter a different culture

moral laxism and rigorism

involves how moral standards should be applied

moral laxism

-holds that in some situation moral principles appear so far removed from the situations at hand that they cannot be applied with any precision, so that almost any action is permissible
-may involve serious violations of moral standards at wither the home

moral rigorism

holds that moral principles, whether they are those of the home country or host country, must be strictly applied in every situation

universal human rights

-in international gov. documents
-a right that every country should grant to its citizens
CRITERIA:
-protect something of very general importance
-subject to substantial and recurrent threat
-obligations or burdens be affordable in relation to the country

exploitation

act of treating other unfairly to benefit from their work
an international company buys materials considerably below the world market, pays workers the lowest wages, pays off government officials, and has significant control over the world market, while m

Bribery

The act of giving money or equivalent to another to persuade them for favor
an international company bribes a government official in exchange for violating some official duty or responsibility

Extortion

The act of obtaining something through force or threats
an international company is required to make payments to the government as a condition of operating in that country

Grease payments

the act of paying government officials to facilitate routine bureaucratic decisions
an international company pays the government to get legitimate goods through customs to prevent excessive or virtually permanent delays in the processing of a permit

Nepotism

The act of those in power favoring relatives or friends

Excessive gifts

the act of giving excessive gifts in exchange for trust

Paternalism

The act of overriding the ability of others to decide what they should or shouldn't do in the interest of those others
soft- decides when recipient doesn't know better
hard- decides regardless of what recipients thinks

negotiating taxes

the act of negotiating how taxes are legally collected in that country

cognitivism

focuses on an individual person's mental process that directs their attention to one stimulus over another

non-cognitivism

focuses on an individual person's mental process that does not direct their attention to either one stimulus over another

moral realism

there is at least one objective moral standard; the opposite of ethical subjectivism

cultural relativism

moral standards be understood in terms of that individual's own culture

ethical subjectivism

there are no objective moral standards; the opposite of moral realism

creative middle way

a clever solution for conflict problems that deal with a difficult choice between ethical standards
applied: line drawing

Western Definition of Professional

-offering one's expertise in exchange for a fee
-working in accordance with high technical and ethical standards
-objections: not appropriate to the more group-oriented cultures

Group-Oriented Eastern definition of Professionalism

-identifying oneself as a professional is a powerful motivator of ethical action
-a professions is a social institution
-engineers, and other professionals, have obligations as members of a group, not as individuals

Natural Rights Theory

-not dependent on consequences, not the outcome of social development, and not established by legal theories
-most fundamental right is ownership right to oneself: "I own myself, and you own yourself. Therefore no one is allowed to murder, torture, or rap

Mixing Theory of Labor

We own whatever we produce of our bodies, as long as that something was not previously owned by someone else
? E.g., no one owned Iceland when the first Vikings arrived there a thousand years ago, but by mixing their labor with a piece of land while leavi

4 principles of natural rights theorists

1. every person owns themselves
2. at some point, the world was not owned by anyone
3. mixing labor with the land establishes ownership, as long as there is enough left over for others
4. you own the fruits of the labor, which you may share on a free mark

Robert Nozick's Objection

why does mixing one's labor of something make one the owner of it?
-ownership is not contiguous. Just because you mix your labor for something, you do not automatically become an owner of that thing.
? E.g., tomato soup can and ocean - you can the can and

rights socially constructed

The idea that rights ultimately depend on the consequences of granting people those rights
? E.g., The right to free speech - the consequences of granting people the right to free speech are better than those of not doing so, so therefore we should do it

objection to rights socially constructed

some rights exist naturally and independently of us

Privacy

the central value is to be able to control what we think of as rightfully ours to control

The Right to be forgotten

according to European courts, individual have the right under certain conditions to ask search engines to remove links with personal info about them

Positive Right

people have an obligation to actively see to it that you obtain your right

negative right

people have the obligation to refrain from violating your rights

moral vs. legal rights

legal rights come from moral rights
moral rights imply legal rights

Shannon Vallor's argument

from a virtue ethics perspective, Vallor adopts a critical attitude toward the typed of technologies we use to interact socially with other human being
-to thorough assess the relationship between new social media to the goodlife, one must examine impact

patience

Shannon Vallor
lost its momentary appeal; widely celebrated by users precisely for their capacity to liberate us from the uncomfortable strains and burdens of conventional com.
-instant digestibility

honesty

Shannon Vallor
-new social media may promote greater risk vs. face-to-face com. with higher stakes encounters requiring more caution and restraint
-ask how users portray their authentic selces as they create carefully polished online identities
-both dece

empathy

Shannon Vallor
empathy: the capacity for feeling with and for others.
-requires maintaining a delicate balance between openness to the affective life of others, and the preservation of adequate emotional resources for oneself
-online com. can edit out vis

trade secrets

formula, info used to gain business advantage over competitors, must not be in public domain, theft of this is a federal crime, no penalty against loss or reverse engr.

patent

issued by gov. excludes non-owner from using/selling invention for 20 years, encourages inventors to disseminate knowledge, invention must be new, useful, and not obvious.

copyrights

rights to creative producted (books, movie, music) retained by author for 50 years after death, protects form of expression of ideas but not ideas themselves

nondisclsure/non-compete

promise not to divulge info, enforcable by civil lawsuit

trademark

word, phrase, symbol, design or combo which id's sources of goods or services of party from others

artifact script

what the artifact invites the user to do

multistability technology

tech. can be used in different ways based on user's intent