Abstract
Although most of us “know” that human beings cannot and should not be replaced by computers, we have great difficulties saying why this is so. This paradox is largely the result of institutionalizing several fundamental misconceptions as to the nature of both trustworthy “objective” and “moral” knowledge. Unless we transcend this paradox, we run the increasing risks of becoming very good at counting without being able to say what is worth counting and why. The degree to which this is occurring is the degree to which the computer revolution is already over — and the degree to which we human beings have lost.
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07 March 2024
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-024-05641-y
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I think that Aristotle was profoundly right in holding that ethics is concerned with how to live and with human happiness, and also profoundly right in holding that this sort of knowledge (“practical knowledge”) is different from theoretical knowledge. A view of knowledge that acknowledges that the sphere of knowledge is wider than the sphere of “science” seems to me to be a cultural necessity if we are to arrive at a sane and human view of ourselves or of science. (Hilary Putnam, Meaning and the Moral Sciences, 1981)
David A. Bella is Professor of Civil Engineering at the College of Engineering at Oregon State University. He received his B.S. in Civil Engineering from Virginia Military Institute (1961), his M.S. and his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from New York University. His primary research interest is in the philosophy and sociology of technology, technological impact assessment, and moral philosophy. His most important publications are “Engineering and Erosion of Trust” and “Organizations and Systemic Distortion of Information,” Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering (1987), and “Strategic Defense: Catastrophic Loss of Control,” Journal of Peace Research (1989).
Jonathan B. King is Associate Professor of Management at the College of Business at Oregon State University. He received his B.A. in philosophy from Antioch College (1965) and his M.B.A. in Finance (1975) and Ph.D. in Business, Government and Society (1980) from the University of Washington. His primary research interests are in the areas of moral philosophy, the philosophy of science, and critical thinking. His most important publications are “The Three Face of Thinking,” Journal of Higher Education (1986), “Prisoner's Paradoxes,” Journal of Business Ethics (1988), and “Confronting Chaos,” Journal of Business Ethics (1989).
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Bella, D., King, J. Common knowledge of the second kind. J Bus Ethics 8, 415–430 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00381808
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00381808