Abstract
Carl Mitcham has recently pointed out that the current approach to the ethics of technology has failed to solve large-scale socio-ethical challenges in the technological world, such as climate change. He then suggests that, in the face of an iceberg of issues regarding technological development, philosophers should recognize the intellectual heritage of the classical philosophers of technology to better deal with the escalating crises that threaten humankind. While Mitcham’s proposal is inspiring, there are several lacunae in his work. In this paper, we contribute to Mitcham’s idea by developing it and filling the important gaps. Our efforts have led to a new style of holistic thinking about the ethics of technology, according to which it is necessary to focus on the system of technologies as a whole (while not ignoring individual technologies, of course) to understand and address issues related to technology development.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
For more studies, see Davis & Nathan (2015)
While the aim of this paper is to shift focus to the macro-ethics of technology and propose a new approach in this field, further research programs are required to identify challenges and assess the consequences of putting such an approach into practice.
A detailed description of such methodology, which has connections to other fields such as graph theory and computer science, is beyond the scope of this philosophy work. We will therefore only mention the main steps in a general and non-technical language.
These macro-ethical issues are rarely addressed in the current dominant approach to technology ethics, which primarily focuses on micro-ethical concerns. Rather than aiming to guide Technology towards ethically ideal destinations, the emphasis is on moralizing technical artifacts. The legitimacy and significance of such concerns, in our opinion, are compelling grounds to see the current approach as ‘insufficient’.
For example, when a country joins the Paris Climate Agreement, it should adjust its technology system configuration in order to meet its commitment to tackle rising earth temperatures.
References
Achterhuis H (2001) American philosophy of technology. Indiana University Press
Azimi S, Rahmani R, Fateh-rad M (2019) Investment cost optimization for industrial project portfolios using technology mining. Technol Forecast Soc Chang 138:243–253
Bijker WE (1997) Of bicycles, bakelites, and bulbs: toward a theory of sociotechnical change. Mit Press
Brey P (2010) Philosophy of technology after the empirical turn. Tech: Res Philos Technol 14(1):36–48
Brey P (2017) Sustainable technologies for sustainable lifestyles. In: Kaplan D (ed) philosophy, technology and the environment. MIT Press
Briggle A (2016) The policy turn in the philosophy of technology. Philosophy of technology after the empirical turn, 167–175.
Davis J, Nathan LP (2015) Value sensitive design: applications, adaptations, and critiques. In: van den Hoven J, Vermaas P, van de Poel I (eds) Handbook of ethics, values, and technological design. Springer, Dordrecht
Dusek V (2007) Philosophy of technology: an introduction. Blackwell
Ellul J (1967) The technological society. Vintage Books
Feenberg A (2000) From essentialism to constructivism. In technology and the good life? 294–315
Franssen M, Vermaas PE, Kroes P, Meijers AWM (2016) Editorial introduction: putting the empirical turn into perspective. In: Franssen M, Vermaas P, Kroes P, Meijers A (eds) Philosophy of technology after the empirical turn. Philosophy of Engineering and Technology, vol 23. Springer
Grunwald A (1999) Technology assessment or ethics of technology? Eth Perspect 6(2):170–182
Heidegger M (1969) Discourse on thinking (J. M. Anderson, Trans.). Harper & Row
Heidegger M (1977) The question concerning technology. Harpercollins Publishers, New York
Jaspers K (1965) The origin and goal of history (M. Bullock, Trans). Yale University Press
Kroes P, Meijers AWM (2016). Toward an axiological turn in the philosophy of technology. In philosophy of technology after the empirical turn, 11–30.
Kuhn TS (1962) The structure of scientific revolutions. University of Chicago Press
MacKenzie D (1984) Marx and the machine. Technol Cult 25(3):473
Marcuse H (1968) One dimensional man: the ideology of industrial society. Sphere Books
Mitcham C (1994) Thinking through technology: the path between engineering and philosophy. University of Chicago Press
Mitcham C (2020) The ethics of technology: from thinking big to small—and big again. Axiomathes 30(6):589–596
Naṣr SḤ (1996) Religion and the order of Nature; the 1994 cadbury lectures at the University of Birmingham. Oxford University Press
Nasr SH, Iqbal M (2009) Islam, Science, Muslims and technology: Seyyed Hossein Nasr in conversation with Muzaffar Iqbal. Dost Publications
Porter AL, Cunningham SW (2004) Tech mining: exploiting new technologies for competitive advantage. Willey
Verbeek PP (2005) What things do: philosophical reflections on technology, agency, and design. Pennsylvania State University Press
Verbeek PP (2011) Moralizing technology: understanding and designing the morality of things. University Of Chicago Press
Vermaas P, Kroes P, Van De Poel I, Franssen M, Houkes W (2011) A philosophy of technology: from technical artefacts to sociotechnical systems. Springer
Funding
This research has not received any funding from any source.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Since a significant portion of this article’s content and research is derived from the master's thesis written by MSJ and supervised by JAT (at Sharif University of Technology), and because MS and J, respectively, played an important role in the article's subsequent development, it can be stated that the article's main contribution belongs to these two individuals. But because a third person—MF, who is designated as the paper's second author in the list of authors—participated in the subsequent advancement of the article, especially in its ending section (Sect. 6), a portion of the article's contribution also goes to him.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
This is a research article written primarily for the authors’ academic status and career, not for any special financial or other non-financial interests.
Ethical Approval
The authors attest that the submission adheres to all of the journal's ethical guidelines.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This article's material and research are mostly taken from the master's thesis written by Mohammad Sobhan Jalilian and supervised by Javad Akbari Takhtameshlou at Sharif University of Technology.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Jalilian, M.S., Fatehrad, M. & Akbari Takhtameshlou, J. A Holistic Approach to Macro-Ethics of Technology: A Contribution to Mitcham’s Big Idea. glob. Philosophy 34, 2 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10516-024-09706-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10516-024-09706-5