Using enkapsis theory for unravelling societal complexities - the case of Uber

Digital technologies can create novel clusters of societal entities. This can lead to tensions in relationships between existing societal entities and in some cases it requires a rethinking of the structures that characterize these relationships. An example of a digital technology that has challenged existing relationships between traditional businesses, legal authorities and the public is Uber, an application-based transportation networking company. One way of understanding such complex relationships is in terms of enkaptic interlacements. The theory of enkapsis is a philosophical tool, based on a specific view of reality, which may guide a novel understanding of the relationship between artefacts and entities and between social structuresthat exist in reality. It distinguishes between three main types of relationships between societal entities, namely part-whole relationships, enkaptic interlacements and interlinkages. If we apply this rather abstract theory to the complex case of Uber, we find, for example, that Uber has a part-whole relationship with the information technology infrastructure. This implies thatwithout digital technologies, Uber loses its meaning and will not function according to its primary function, namely to connect drivers to passengers. We explore how the theory of enkapsis can explain a multiplicity of other complex relationships and explain the different responses to Uber in different countries, cultural settings and legal systems

A feasibility study for inclusion of ethics and social issues in engineering and design coursework in Australia

This paper reports on a feasibility study on including ethics and social issues in the current curriculum of a school of engineering and information technology in an Australian university. The study has three goals: first, to understand the current status of inclusion of ethics and social issues in engineering courses. Second, to understand the willingness of staff within the school to include ethics and societal issues in their courses. Third, to understand the opportunities and challenges for inclusion of ethical and societal issues in the coursework. Our methods include interviews with school staff and subject matter experts as well as analyses of textual artifacts such as course outlines, course readings, student assignments, and accreditation reports. The analysis of textual artifacts runs partially via an automated text analyzer that search for words that have ethical connotation, such as safety, responsibility, privacy, harm, etcetera in the dataset of course materials. A manual (human) analysis of the coursework was done for those courses that give insufficient results in the automated text analyzer. We looked for opportunities to include ethics and societal issues in coursework. The conclusion is that there is general consensus amongst staff that ethics and societal issues deserve more attention in the school. At the same time, there is concern that including ethics and societal issues takes away valuable teaching time for technical material. There is preference for an integrated way of ethics teaching, rather than one seperate engineering ethics course

Multi-aspectual approach to values in refugee logistics

We approach the problem of refugee logistics from a value sensitive design (VSD)perspective. VSD is a tripartite design methodology, which implies conceptual,empirical and technical investigations. Our first step is to understand current valuesin the refugee chain. This is done via a stakeholder meeting and a multi-aspectualanalysis. The second step is to understand why values in the refugee chain(potentially) clash with values of stakeholders, and in particular with values ofrefugees. The third step is to provide stakeholders with guidelines on how toimprove their contribution in the refugee chain in a value sensitive manner

Ethics and Technology

This book aims to contribute to this form of 'reflective practitioning' in military practice"-

An Assessment of the Uber App’s Normative Practice

This study analyzes a complex case in society, namely, how to distinguish ride-sharing applications, such as Uber, from ordinary taxi enterprises. We conduct a structural analysis of normative practices with distinctions at the following levels: (1) aspects; (2) radical types, genotypes, and phenotypes; (3) part-whole, enkaptic relationships, and interlinkages; and (4) the distinction between qualifying and foundational functions as it is captured in the theory of normative practices. We conclude that the genotype of taxi matchmaking enterprises, of which Uber is an example, represents a novel normativity that could positively serve society and also produce normative challenges, depending on its governance. Therefore, regulators should not dismiss the entire  genotype of taxi matchmaking enterprises, but should address the phenotypes that are illegal or that cannot thrive without the illegal behaviors of its users. This conclusion is clear from the structural and directional sides of the practice

Reflections on the humanitarian logistics for refugees in the Netherlands from three perspectives:Maslow, Max-Neef, and Dooyeweerd

The world currently faces the highest number in recorded history of people fleeing from war and violence. Refugee-hosting countries in the western part of the world experience the effects of global issues more than ever and face dealing with humanitarian logistics for refugees on an unprecedented scale. These countries continuously optimize their policies regarding refugees by navigating between obligations toward the Geneva Refugee Treaty, manageability of the situation, and worries of their citizens voiced through public opinion. The issue can be considered a wicked problem because of its unpredictability, complexity, and global scale. Presuppositions about human flourishing affect the interpretation of well-being in refugee policies. In this article, we reflect on refugees' experiences with Dutch asylum policies, analyzing these experiences through the theoretical lenses of Abraham Maslow, Manfred Max-Neef, and Herman Dooyeweerd. We learn from Maslow the importance of providing information for the satisfaction of basic needs; from Max-Neef we learn that, with the sole exception of the need for subsistence (that is, to remain alive), all fundamental needs are equally important; and from Dooyeweerd we learn that trust, though often overlooked, is important for refugee well-being.</p