Ethics and Emerging Technologies - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0230367038 ISBN 13: 9780230367036

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013

Synopsis

Technology shapes every aspect of human experience and is the primary driver of social and environmental change. Given this, it is perhaps surprising that so little time is spent studying, analysing and ethically assessing new technologies. Occasionally, an issue attracts public attention – for example, the use of human embryonic stem cells in medical research or the online file sharing of music and movies. However, these are the exceptions. For the most part, each new technology and application is enthusiastically embraced with little critical reflection on how it will impact people's lives or the world. Moreover, when an issue raised by an emerging technology is attended to, the language, concepts and critical perspectives to properly address it are frequently found to be lacking.
The aim of this textbook is to introduce students and other readers to the ethical issues associated with a broad array of emerging technologies, as well as to help them develop the analytical skills and perspectives necessary for effectively evaluating novel technologies and applications. The technologies discussed include nanotechnology, synthetic biology, robotics, genetic engineering, human enhancement, geoengineering, cultured meat, virtual reality, information technologies, sex selection, and many more.
Key features include:
· Comprehensive coverage from thirty six chapters written by leading thinkers in the field
· An extensive introduction that presents a framework for analysing the ethical dimensions of emerging technologies
· Section overviews and chapter summaries that help students master the book's content
· Discussion questions that provoke reflection on the issues discussed in each chapter

Ethics and Emerging Technologies is ideal for undergraduate courses on technology and society and technology and ethics. It is also appropriate for technology-oriented modules in environmental ethics and bioethics, as well as ethics modules in engineering and information technology courses.

About this title

About the Author

Keith Abney, Ethics and Emerging Sciences Group, California Polytechnic State University, USA. Fritz Allhoff, Department of Philosophy, Western Michigan University, USA. John Basl, Department of Philosophy, Bowling Green State University, USA. Francoise Baylis, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Canada Mark Bedau, Department of Philosophy, Reed University, USA. George Bekey, Computer Science Department, University of Southern California, USA. Nick Bostrom, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford UK. Maria Bottis, Department of Archives and Library Science, Ionian University, Greece Philip Brey, Department of Philosophy, University of Twente, The Netherlands Philip Cafaro, Department of Philosophy, Colorado State University, USA. James Collins, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, USA. Gary Comstock, Department of Philosophy, North Carolina State University, USA. Inmaculada de Melo-Martin, Division of Medical Ethics, Cornell Medical College, USA. Thomas Douglas, Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, University of Oxford, UK. Kevin Elliott, Department of Philosophy, University of South Carolina, USA. Lucy Frith, Department of Health Services Research, University of Liverpool, UK. Tamara Garcia, College of Law, Georgia State University, USA. Michele Garfinkle, Science Policy Programme, European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), Germany Marin Gillis, Department of Humanities, Health and Society, Florida International University, USA. Walter Glannon, Department of Philosophy, University of Calgary, USA. Clive Hamilton, Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, Charles Sturt University, Australia Kenneth Himma, Department of Philosophy, Seattle Pacific University, USA. Hans Jonas, Department of Philosophy, New School of Social Research, USA. Leon Kass, Committee on Social Thought, University of Chicago, USA. Lori Knowles, Health Law Institute, University of Alberta, Canada Ray Kurzweil, Director of Engineering, Google, USA. Matthew Liao, Center for Bioethics, New York University, USA. Patrick Lin, Ethics and Emerging Sciences Group, California Polytechnic State University, USA. Ben Minteer, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, USA. Arnold Pacey, The Open University, UK. Christopher Preston, Department of Philosophy, University of Montana, USA. Michael Ravvin, Department of Political Science, Columbia University, USA. Jason Robert, Center for Biology and Society, Arizona State University, USA. Ronald Sandler, Department of Philosophy and Religion, Northeastern University, USA. Vandana Shiva, Navdanya Research Foundation for Science Technology and Ecology, India Richard Spinello, Carroll School of Management, Boston College, USA. Jay Stanley, Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, American Civil Liberties Union, USA. Barry Steinhardt, Program on Technology and Liberty, American Civil Liberties Union, USA. Robert Streiffer, Department of Medical History and Bioethics, University of Wisconsin, USA. Paul Thompson, Department of Philosophy, Michigan State University, USA. Mark Triant, Interactive Telecommunications, New York University, USA. Jeroen Van den Hoven, Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University, The Netherlands Wendell Wallach, Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics, Yale University, USA. Langdon Winner, Department of Science and Technology Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA.

Review

"Sandler's book Ethics and Emerging Technologies offers an overview of the topic and gathers contributions from philosophers, ethicists, and policy scholars in an attempt to help students develop linguistic, conceptual, critical, and perspectival resources which will enable them to think carefully about the ethics of new technologies. ... For those who have been focusing on nanoethics, this book is thus a suitable starting point for an exploration or comparison of key ethical issues relating to different types of technology domains." (Laura Yenisa Cabrera Trujillo, Nanoethics, Vol. 9, 2015)

Edition details

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0230367038
• ISBN 13: 9780230367036
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 600
• Editor: Sandler Ronald