165 research outputs found
Do new Ethical Issues Arise at Each Stage of Nanotechnological Development?
The literature concerning ethical issues associated with nanotechnologies has become prolific. However, it has been claimed that ethical problems are only at stake with rather sophisticated nanotechnologies such as active nanostructures, integrated nanosystems and heterogeneous molecular nanosystems, whereas more basic nanotechnologies such as passive nanostructures mainly pose technical difficulties. In this paper I argue that fundamental ethical issues are already at stake with this more basic kind of nanotechnologies and that ethics impacts every kind of nanotechnologies, already from the simplest kind of engineered nanoproducts. These ethical issues are mainly associated with the social desirability of nanotechnologies, with the difficulties to define nanotechnologies properly, with the important uncertainties surrounding nanotechnologies, with the threat of ânano-divideâ, and with nanotechnology as âdual-use technologyâ
Responsible, Inclusive Innovation and the Nano-divide
Policy makers from around the world are trying to emulate successful innovation systems in order to support economic growth. At the same time, innovation governance systems are being put in place to ensure a better integration of stakeholder views into the research and development process. In Europe, one of the most prominent and newly emerging governance frameworks is called Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI). This article aims to substantiate the following points: (1) The concept of RRI and the concept of justice can be used to derive similar ethical positions on the nano-divide. (2) Given the ambitious policy aims of RRI (e.g. economic competitiveness enhancer), the concept may be better suited to push for ethical outcomes on access to nanotechnology and its products rather than debates based on justice issues alone. It may thus serve as a mediator concept between those who push solely for competitiveness considerations and those who push solely for justice considerations in nano-technology debates. (3) The descriptive, non-normative Systems of Innovation approaches (see below) should be linked into RRI debates to provide more evidence on whether the approach advocated to achieve responsible and ethical governance of research and innovation (R&I) can indeed deliver on competitiveness (in nano-technology and other fields)
How benchmarking can support the selection, planning and delivery of nuclear decommissioning projects
Nuclear Decommissioning Projects and Programmes (NDPs) are jeopardized by several risks, long schedule and cost estimates that lay in the range of hundreds of billions of pounds. Moreover, in some countries, these estimates keep increasing and key stakeholders have a limited understanding of the determinants that engender this phenomena. Benchmarking refers to the process of comparing projects in order to identify best practices and generate ideas for improvement. However, even if it is the envisaged approach to tackle the decommissioning challenges (and due to the NDPsâ uniqueness), until now, benchmarking has been only partially used. This paper proposes an innovative methodology to benchmark decommissioning projects, both from the nuclear and non-nuclear industry, within the UK and worldwide. From this cross-sectorial and cross-country analysis, it is possible to gather a list of key NDPsâ characteristic and statistically test their correlation with the project performance. The ultimate aim of the research underpinning this paper is to investigate the possible causation between the NDPsâ characteristics and the NDPsâ performance and to develop guidelines to improve the selection, planning and delivery of future NDPs
LâĂ©valuation Ă©thique des technologies en prĂ©sence de risques et dâincertitudes : une analyse critique des matrices Ă©thiques
LâĂ©thique Ă lâĂ©preuve de lâinflation des normes dans la pratique clinique
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe
Cultural theory, risk, rationality and ethical implications
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe
A propos de risque et de responsabilité
Traduction de l'article "A propos de risque et de responsabilité" de Hans Lenk, publié dans :Kermisch C. and Hottois G. (eds.), Techniques et philosophies des risques, Paris, Vrin, 2007.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe
Comment intégrer le citoyen dans la gestion des risques technologiques?
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe
La perception des nanotechnologies et de leurs risques
La perception des nanotechnologies et de leurs risques constitue un phĂ©nomĂšne complexe. MalgrĂ© lâambiguÌitĂ© qui prĂ©side Ă la dĂ©finition des nanotechnologies, il est possible de tenter dâen caractĂ©riser la perception. Ainsi, des enquĂȘtes menĂ©es au niveau europĂ©en mettent en Ă©vidence lâabsence dâopinion des citoyens vis-Ă -vis de celles-ci et de leurs risques. De plus, ils ne sâaccordent ni sur lâexistence de risques pour les gĂ©nĂ©rations futures ni sur la prĂ©sence de risques sanitaires et environnementaux. En revanche, lâiniquitĂ© de la distribution des risques et des bĂ©nĂ©fices leur semble manifeste. Par ailleurs, des Ă©tudes montrent que lâattitude des individus varie selon le champ dâapplication concernĂ©. Par exemple, les dĂ©veloppements nanotechnologiques dans le domaine mĂ©dical semblent bĂ©nĂ©ficier dâune perception positive, contrairement aux applications dans les secteurs militaires ou alimentaires. En fait, plusieurs facteurs permettent de comprendre pourquoi certains individus dĂ©veloppent une attitude nĂ©gative vis-Ă -vis de certaines nanotechnologies et perçoivent avec acuitĂ© les risques qui y sont associĂ©s. Il sâagit de facteurs psychomĂ©triques, socioculturels, ou Ă©thiques, mais aussi des bĂ©nĂ©fices associĂ©s Ă ces technologies.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe
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