Dao, harmony and personhood: towards a Confucian ethics of technology

A closer look at the theories and questions in philosophy of technology and ethics of technology shows the absence and marginality of non-Western philosophical traditions in the discussions. Although, increasingly, some philosophers have sought to introduce non-Western philosophical traditions into the debates, there are few systematic attempts to construct and articulate general accounts of ethics and technology based on other philosophical traditions. This situation is understandable, for the questions of modern sciences and technologies appear to be originated from the West; at the same time, the situation is undesirable. The overall aim of this paper, therefore, is to introduce an alternative account of ethics of technology based on the Confucian tradition. In doing so, it is hoped that the current paper can initiate a relatively uncharted field in philosophy of technology and ethics of technology

The observatory for responsible research and innovation in ICT: identifying problems and sharing good practice

The implementation of responsible research and innovation (RRI) with the aim of ensuring socially acceptable and desirable outcomes of research and innovation activities requires coordinated action by numerous actors. RRI may be conceptualised as a network of interlinking responsibilities, some of which have long been established, others that will have to be defined. Actors in these networks of responsibilities will require knowledge about possible activities, normative foundations and good practice that they currently are unlikely to possess. In order to provide a platform for the exchange of knowledge and good practice that different actors can use, the UK EPSRC-funded project on a Framework for Responsible Research and Innovation in ICT is developing an Observatory meant to be a community-based resource that can provide the resources required by stakeholders of ICT research. This chapter describes the way the system is devel-oped and tested. In reflecting upon the development process of the observatory, the chapter provides insights into how the broader discourse on responsible inno-vation could benefit from this type of resource

Expanding ethical vistas of IT professionals

In this paper we argue for an experientially grounded view of IT professionals’ ethical formation and support. We propose that for such formation and support to be effectual, it should challenge professionals’ conceptualisations of their field and of ethics, and it should do so with the aim of changing their experience. To this end, we present a Model of Ethical IT, which is based on an examination of the nature of ethics and on empirical findings concerning IT professionals’ experience of ethics. We argue that for IT professionals to be enabled to become more ethical in their practice: the purpose of IT must be primarily understood to be user-oriented; the nature of professional ethics must be primarily understood to be other-centred; and the goal of ethics education must be understood as primarily promoting a change in awareness