Introduction: The Moral Status of Technical Artefacts

Abstract

In recent decades, discussions about the question of how to morally assess technology and its influence on human beings have taken a new, intriguing twist. Issues about the moral status of technology—in the sense of whether technology itself or its influence on human life may be evaluated as morally good or bad—have a long history. But recently, various proposals have been put forward to ascribe some form of moral agency to technology, more in particular to technical artefacts.