Infrastructure, Urban Sprawl, and Naturally-Occurring Asbestos: An Ontological Thought Model for Wicked and Saving Technologies

Recently, geologists in Southern Nevada discovered new deposits of naturally occurring asbestos and microscopic fibers in rocks and soil. The danger is that inhaling them can lead to mesothelioma. One problem is that this rare cancer often takes decades to manifest. This discovery abruptly stalled a highway project near Las Vegas. Due to this condition, management developed numerous protocols to keep workers safe. Using this case as a thought model, the author challenges an established way of categorizing kinds of technologies as they relate to the concept of being. In turn, this thought model reveals that climate change alters the conditions for being, as recognized in the literature. Advancing this conversation requires that we must reclassify some technologies and develop a categorization for those that reflect a different way of thinking as it concerns being

Transportation Planning for Automated Vehicles -- Or Automated Vehicles for Transportation Planning?

In recent years, philosophical examinations of automated vehicles have progressed far beyond initial concerns over the ethical decisions that pertain to programming in the event of a crash. In turn, this paper moves in that direction, focusing on the motivations behind efforts to implement driverless vehicles into urban settings. The author argues that the many perceived benefits of these technologies yield a received view of automated vehicles. This position holds that driverless vehicles can solve most if not all urban mobility issues. However, the problem with such an outlook is that it lends itself to transportation planning for automated vehicles, rather than using them as part of planning efforts that could serve urban mobility. Due to this condition, present efforts aimed at improving transportation systems should resist dogmatic thinking. Instead, they should focus on goals that keep topics such a human flourishing, sustainability, and transportation justice firmly in view

The Philosophical Dimensions of Urban Transportation: Introduction

Geographers, urban planners, and interdisciplinary scholars have made numerous contributions toward understanding urban transportation. Until recently, philosophers have largely neglected the topic, but now transportation is an expanding area of research, most notably in the emerging subfield known as philosophy of the city. This special issue aims to increase philosophical contributions to its study. Those who are working in this area are examining several subjects that were previously ignored. Transportation is one such topic. The articles in this special edition make this claim evident. Philosophy of the city is informed by several other subfields, and these articles on urban mobility make that notion apparent. They rely on insights from other areas of philosophy such as aesthetics, ethics, philosophy of technology, feminist philosophy, and phenomenology

Philosophy of the City and Environmental Ethics

From the Guest Editor: During the past several years, environmental ethicists, philosophers of technology, philosophers of race, and several others have presented their research at the Philosophy of the City Research Group\u27s conferences. The environmental philosophers are working to understand specific dimensions of cities, including but not limited to food systems, energy, waste, and water. The significance of these philosophers attending such conferences is that they can inform and learn from colleagues who work in neighboring areas within the discipline. Such exchanges can improve how we think about cities

Advancing Food Sovereignty Through Interrogating the Question: What is Food Sovereignty?

The topic of food sovereignty has received ample attention from philosophers and interdisciplinary scholars, from how to conceptualize the term to how globalization shapes it, and several areas in between. This bounty of research informs us about food sovereignty’s practical dimensions, but the theoretical realm still has lessons to teach us, especially how to develop action-based guides to achieve it. This paper is an exploration in that direction. To have that effect, the author interrogates the question, “what is food sovereignty?”, through asking about its motivations, scale, and the answers that will inform solutions. This process reveals that, despite the differences between conceptions of food sovereignties, there is a pattern at play that concerns their nature. The benefit of gaining an understanding of this pattern is to uncover the necessary elements that each solution will require

Making Sense of the City: Public Spaces in the Philippines. Remmon E. Barbaza, ed.

Making Sense of the City: Public Spaces in the Philippines.Remmon E. Barbaza, ed.Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2019, 236pp

On Moral Prioritization in Environmental Ethics: Weak Anthropocentrism for the City

Developing a way to address troublesome issues in areas such as urban planning is a chal-lenging undertaking. It includes making decisions that involve humans, nonhumans, future generations, and historical and cultural artifacts. All of these groups deserve consideration, but not equally. Figuring out how to approach this topic involves overcoming the problem of moral prioritization. The structure of weak anthropocentrism can help with this problem, suggesting that future research on the environmental aspects of metropolitan regions should make use of its applicability. Despite its strengths, weak anthropocentrism must be expanded to address complicated urban issues. A multitiered weak-anthropocentric measure, a “complex moral assessment,” is needed to address these concerns

Transportation Planning for Automated Vehicles—Or Automated Vehicles for Transportation Planning?

In recent years, philosophical examinations of automated vehicles have progressed far beyond initial concerns over the ethical decisions that pertain to programming in the event of a crash. In turn, this paper moves in that direction, focusing on the motivations behind efforts to implement driverless vehicles into urban settings. The author argues that the many perceived benefits of these technologies yield a received view of automated vehicles. This position holds that driverless vehicles can solve most if not all urban mobility issues. However, the problem with such an outlook is that it lends itself to transportation planning for automated vehicles, rather than using them as part of planning efforts that could serve urban mobility. Due to this condition, present efforts aimed at improving transportation systems should resist dogmatic thinking. Instead, they should focus on goals that keep topics such a human flourishing, sustainability, and transportation justice firmly in view

Questioning Technology's Role in Environmental Ethics: Weak Anthropocentrism Revisited

Environmental ethics has mostly been practiced separately from philosophy of technology, with few exceptions. However, forward thinking suggests that environmental ethics must become more interdisciplinary when we consider that almost everything affects the environment. Most notably,technology has had a huge impact on the natural realm. In the following discussion, the notions of synthesising philosophy of technology and environmental ethics are explored with a focus on research, development, and policy